(JT) During the inaugural ceremony of Tekeze Hydroelectric power Dam, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said forty-five Ethiopians and two Chinese died during the 6-year construction period of the project.

Tekeze dam, one of the tallest hydroelectric dams in Africa, has a potential of generating 300 MW but it started producing 80 MW on Saturday. According to the state-media, the 4 Billion Birr cost of the construction was fully financed by the government.

Tekeze’s construction was originally supposed to cost 2 Billion birr and be finalized in 2007. It was then postponed several times and the government’s Ethiopia Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) rescheduled it to the end of 2008.

The Tekeze dam located in the Tigray home state of the ruling party of Meles Zenawi began facing massive geological problems in 2008 and the EEPCo decided to use hundreds of millions in additional federal money to continue with the project.

Some experts have criticized the selection of the construction site for allegedly being politically motivated. Critics also say dozens more Ethiopians might have died when the mountain area around the Tekeze dam slid down last year.

Nile politics

In the next ten years, EEPCo reportedly plans to construct 10 more hydro power plants worth multi-Billion dollars and begin exporting power to Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti. The Chinese government has provided loans and has been Ethiopia’s main partner in these power projects. The World Bank is also expected to fund some of the projects however Egypt has managed to block funding for Ethiopian projects that could affect its domination of the Nile River. Ethiopia is the source of around 85 percent of the Nile water flow but Egypt utilizes the majority of the Nile.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Egyptian leaders threatened wars on Ethiopia over the Nile and assisted the Somalia invasion of Ethiopia’s Ogaden by sending military experts and funds to Mogadishu. The dispute caused the previous Ethiopian President Mengistu to intensify stockpiling heavy weaponry. Historically, Ethiopia and Egypt last went to war in 1875 when Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia defeated the Egyptians.

The Ethiopian government is currently building six other hydropower dam projects, including Gilgel Gibe III Dam, and the country has a potential up to an estimated 40, 000 MW.