Ethiopia, Kenyan still looking for agreement over Gibe III
By Dereje  Berhan
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia- The biggest dam under construction in sub Saharan Africa by Ethiopian government Gibe III Hydroelectric project is still an issue under discussions between the Ethiopian and Kenya governments. Officials of the two governments are in Addis Ababa conducting talks following intense media campaigning by environmental groups who are opposed to the project.  
The Ethio- Kenya Joint consultative meeting discussing issues related to the Gibe III Project opened in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, Kenyan Director of Water Resource and Delegation Head John Rao Nyaoro said that his government would give solid support for the sustainability and viability of the project. In the meeting sources tell SSI talks experienced hitches  where the Kenyan side asked for  modifications on the project in regards to the water flow from the Omo river into Lake Turkana Lake. However sources tell SSI that the discussions will continue after a one day break after a field assessment tour on the project.  
Opening the meeting Ethiopian, Water Resource Minister Mr.  Asfaw Dingamo, listed the advantages of the Gibe III project as an noteworthy investemtn that would have has a positive impact on the environment that  will ensure clean renewable power supply both for Ethiopia and Kenya while enabling to mitigate drought.
Ethiopian water minister also said   the project would also enable to control flood, regulated flow and environmental service and adaptation to climate change, among others.
Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) General Manager Mihret Debebe, on his part said  Ethiopia is committed to develop the country’s energy capacity by making use of its huge water resources potential that would significantly contribute to the regional economic integration by exporting power from the project through regional and Sub-regional interconnection systems.

Nyaoro said that “We learned that the project will be environment friendly and Kenya welcomes Ethiopia’s Multi-billion dollar Hydroelectric Project”, Nyaoro added.
The Ethiopian government want to show its study on the project ,according to Ethiopian government ,project designers and implementing agencies attentive to environmental issues early, the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA):enables them to take into account environmental issues; helps to avoid unnecessary environmental costs in implementation;
Provides a formal mechanism for inter-agency coordination to deal with the concerns of affected Groups; can play a major role in building capability in the country for the solution of environmental problems
Gibe III hydroelectric power project has the capacity of generating 1870 mega watts of energy. construction has commenced as of July 2006 following a contract agreement signed between EEPCo and Salini Construttori, an Italian construction firm. one-third  of the project’s construction has already been completed and the dam is expected to be fully operational as of July 2013.
recent Ethiopian power planning studies have estimated that Ethiopia’s hydroelectric potential is at about 30,000 MW, a potential greatly in excess of foreseeable domestic demand. Currently only about the one per cent of that potential is being used for generating hydroelectric power. Preliminary investigations have indicated that the most promising sites could be developed at lower costs than other power generation options.
The Gibe III dam is under construction on the Omo River, approximately 300km southwest of Addis Ababa. It is the third in a series of cascading hydroelectric projects in the region.
The first, the Gilgel Gibe dam (also called Gibe I), was completed north of the Gibe III dam site in 2004. The Gibe II project is a power plant associated with the Gibe I dam that is already finalized. The new Gibe III dam is expected to produce 6500 GWh of energy a year, and surplus energy is expected to create 300 million euros (£282m; $407m) in revenue, according to the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), the sole provider of power in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's neighbors, such as Djibouti, Yemen, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Egypt, would all be in a position to purchase the excess energy. EEPCo sees another benefit of the project in regulating the flow of the river, which floods annually, and thereby making it navigable all year. The resulting reservoir of approximately 200 sq km would be used as a fishery, according to an environmental and social impact assessment by EEPCo.