Gilgel Gibe River (with ''Gilgel'' meaning ''Little'') is a major tributary of the larger
Gibe River
The Gibe River (also Great Gibe River) is by far the largest tributary of the Omo River in Ethiopia and typically flowing south-southeast. The confluence of the large Gibe River at with the smaller Wabe River forms the even larger Omo River. Co ...
in southwest
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
in western
Oromia Region
Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa.
It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...
. It flows in an arc through the south of the
Jimma Zone, defining part of the Zone's boundary with that of the
as it turns north. It then joins the eastwards flowing Gibe River less than ten miles from its own confluence with the
Omo River
The Omo River (also called Omo-Bottego) in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile, Nile Basin. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and it empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Keny ...
.
Hydroelectric potential
Plans to develop the
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
potential of the Gilgel Gibe river were first announced in the 1980s.
Construction of the
Gilgel Gibe I Power Station started in 1986 and was completed in 2004, after being interrupted in the early 1990s. The plant includes a reservoir of about 0.917 cubic kilometers created by a dam about 40 meters high. The Gilgel Gibe river flows are returned to the natural river bed after having transformed the energy of the water into electricity through a powerplant equipped with three Francis turbines.
The
resettlement program required moving about 3,000 people to new areas including the people living under or near the power line connecting the power plant to
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
. Employing 307 expatriates from 32 countries and 4,015 local people, the plant was completed at a cost of about two billion
birr and became Ethiopia's largest power plant at that time, with a capacity of 184 megawatts.
The second phase of the development of the Gibe-Omo hydropower potential started with the
Gilgel Gibe II Power Station on the
Omo River
The Omo River (also called Omo-Bottego) in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile, Nile Basin. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and it empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Keny ...
. The flows of the Gilgel Gibe River, regulated by the Gilgel Gibe I Dam, are conveyed through a 26 km long hydraulic tunnel through the Fofa mountains to the Omo River in the neighboring river valley downstream of the Gilgel Gibe I. The plant, that produces about 420 MW did not require resettlements. This second phase was 97.5% complete in August 2009 and was scheduled for commissioning in September 2009 onwards.
"New Hydroelectric Power Plant on Gilgel Gibe"
(All Africa), subscription required; accessed 21 July 2006
References
{{Coord , 8.257, 37.486, type:river, display=title
Rivers of Ethiopia
Oromia Region