Gibe III Hydroelectric Plant
The contract was signed on July 19, 2006 and on the reporting date was worth about €1,607 million. It includes the construction of a 1,870 MW hydroelectric power plant consisting of an RCC (Roller Compacted Concrete) dam measuring 243 meters high with an open-air power plant. Other permanent works consist of a total of 75 km of access roads, a new bridge over the Omo River, and camps and structures for the Client.
In addition, an agreement was signed with the Client in 2010 for construction of the 66-kw electrical power line from the Sodo-Wolayta substation to the Gibe III site. This line and its substations will remain the property of the Client EEPCo, but as compensation Salini will receive electrical power at a preferred rate compared to the national standard.
The percentage of completion as of December 31, 2014 was 82.3%.
"Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam" (GERD) Hydroelectric Power Plant
On December 30, 2010, Salini Costruttori S.p.A. and EEPCo (Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation) entered into an agreement to construct the “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” (GERDP), which will be the largest dam in Africa (1,800 m long, 170 m high and with an overall volume of 10 million cubic meters), along with two plants located on the banks of the Blue Nile, equipped with a total of 16 turbines each with installed capacity of 375 MW.
Addendum no. 2 was signed on March 12, 2012, to formalize the Client’s request to increase the voltage of the power line between Beles and the GERDP from the originally planned 132 kw to 400 kw. This change led to an increase in the contract value to €42 million, bringing the overall total of the project to the current €3.6 billion.
Excavation on the main dam and power plants is currently in progress, where around 2 million cubic meters of RCC have been cast and compacted, while the new bridge over the Nile has been completed and was opened to traffic in September 2012. Likewise, excavation for the foundations of the Saddle Dam have been started and substantially completed.
Construction work on the riverbank power plants, the permanent camp, and the construction site roads is mostly completed, as well as work on diverting the Nile into the special channel.
The percentage of completion as of December 31, 2014 was 33.8%.