Genale Dawa III Hydroelectric Power Station

The Genale Dawa III Power Station, also GD-3 Power Station, is a hydroelectric power station across the Ganale Doria River in Ethiopia. Construction began circa March 2011 and the power station was commercially commissioned in February 2020. The renewable energy infrastructure development is owned by the government of Ethiopia and was constructed by China Gezhouba Group, a subsidiary of China Energy Engineering Corporation at an estimated cost of £352.7 million ($451 million), co-financed by the Exim Bank of China and the Ethiopian Government.

Location
The power station lies across the Ganale Doria River, along the border of Kobadi Woreda and Meda Welabu Woreda, in the Bale Zone of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. This is approximately 610 km by road, southeast of Addis Ababa, the largest city and capital of Ethiopia. The geographical coordinates of Genale–Dawa 3 Hydroelectric Power Station are 05°30'36.5"N, 39°43'05.0"E (Latitude:5.510139; Longitude:39.718056).

Overview
The dam is a "concrete-lined rockfill dam". The water reservoir measures 110 m in height and is 456 m long. The dam reservoir has a retention capacity of 3200000 m3 of water. The underground powerhouse has three Francis turbines, each rated at 84.7 megawatts, relaying the power to an above-ground switchyard. From the power station, two high-voltage transmission lines (one at 400kV and another at 230kV), transfer the energy a total of 295 km to a substation owned by the Ethiopian Electric Power, where the energy is integrated into the national grid.

Ownership
Genale–Dawa III Hydroelectric Power Station is wholly owned and operated by the Government of Ethiopia.

Construction costs and funding
The construction budget is quoted as £352.7 million (US$451 million). The table below outlines the sources of funding for constructing the dam and power station, including the associated infrastructure.


 * Note: Totals are slightly off due to rounding.

Other considerations
GD-3 Dam is a multi-purpose dam. Besides power generation, the dam reservoir serves as a water storage facility for use during water scarcity. In addition, the water will be used for irrigation of approximately 15000 ha, as part of the Lower Genale Irrigation Development Project.