Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC) said it is finalizing the manufacturing of two radial gates for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The radial gates, each with 137 tons of weight, are being produced at Akaki Basic Metals Industry (ABMI), a plant operating under the Corporation.
The gates will be transported soon to the dam site after the necessary finishing works are completed, Yohannes Berheabay, deputy manager of ABMI told FBC yesterday. Once they are fixed at the bottom of the dam, the radial gates will allow the dam to generate power as per scheduled, he said.
Radial gates used to control the water flow through dams. Similarly, the Akaki Basic Metals Industry will start manufacturing wheel gates and slide gates for the two water outlets of the dam as of next week, he said.
Moreover, the Ethiopian Power Engineering Industry Turbine Manufacturing Factory, the other plant operating under the Corporation, is producing elbow type draft tubes, which are important component of turbines.
With a total installed power of 6,000 MW, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has 16 Francis turbines and needs 16 elbow type draft tubes, according to Lieutenant Tsegaye Gebre-Egziabher, head of the factory. Two draft tubes have already been manufactured for the two turbines that will begin power generation earlier, he said
Ethiopia has finished 58 percent of the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
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