The Ethiopian government expects the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) hydropower project on the Nile river to start power generation in December 2020. The planned initial production will include two turbines with a combined capacity of 750 MW. The 6,450 MW project will be fully operational by the end of 2022.
The power plant's long-term power generation design capacity was initially expected to reach 5,250 MW but was later upgraded to 6,450 MW in March 2017. Initially expected to be completed in 5 years, the project has been significantly delayed because of possible defects with the hydro-electrical equipments handled by state-held Metals and Engineering Corporation. The company was in charge of the electro-mechanical and hydraulic steel structure divisions but did not have the experience required to handle such a complex task and was ousted from the project in August 2018.