The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), formerly known as the Millennium Dam, is a 6GW hydroelectric power project under construction on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia.

Being developed by state-owned public utility enterprise Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, Grand Renaissance Dam will be the biggest hydropower station in Africa.

It is also one of the world’s most controversial dam projects as it involves a long-running international dispute between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the Blue Nile water sharing.   Ethiopia accounts for more than 80% of the Blue Nile water in its territory alone and the downstream countries Egypt and Sudan fear the dam construction will reduce the water flow on the river and cause drought-like situations in their territories.

The construction on the £4bn ($4bn) project was started in April 2011 and the dam was two-thirds built as of the beginning of 2020. The facility is expected to commence operations by the end of 2022.