Egypt ambassador Mohamed Idrees (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Ethiopia's decision to divert the Blue Nile has been planned since November so is neither recent nor a surprise, Egypt's ambassador in Addis Ababa, Mohamed Idris, said on Tuesday.
Ethiopia started the project on Tuesday to coincide with national day celebrations, Idris said during an interview on satellite television.
The ambassador said Egypt would continue to receive its full quota of 55 billion cubic meters of Nile water despite the Ethiopian project.
“The governments of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan should consider their common interests and how to benefit from the new dam…,” Idris added.
On Monday, Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Gebre-Christos said the dam, which is under construction and will be able to store 84 million cubic metres of Nile water, would be used exclusively for power generation and would not reduce Egypt's share of Nile water.
The under-construction Renaissance Dam has been a source of concern for the Egyptian government.
Egypt will need an additional 21 billion cubic metres of water per year by 2050, on top of its current 55 billion metres quota, to meet the water needs of a projected population of 150 million people, according to Egypt's National Planning Institute.
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