DAMS IN SUDAN

(sol) By Khalid Salih Ibrahim - Currently there are four large dams operating in Sudan. The two largest dams are the Rosaries and Sinar on the Blue Nile. Both of these are multipurpose structures, in addition to Jabal Awlia on the White Nile, Khashm Al-Girba on Atbara River and under construction Merowe on the Nile. Moreover, there are three underway dams’ projects Kajabar- third cataract Nile, Saiteet Atbara River and Al-Sheraik fifth cataract Nile northern of Atbara city.

Operating Dams:
1. SINNAR (BLUE NILE) 1926
2. JABAL AWLIA (WHITE NILE) 1937
3. ROSEIRES (BLUE NILE) 1950
4. KHASHM AL-GERBA (ATBARA) 1964

Under Construction
• MEROWE (NILE)

Underway Projects:
• Kajabar- third cataract Nile
• Saiteet Dam Atbara River
• Al-Sheraik Dam fifth cataract Nile northern of Atbara city

SINNAR- Blue Nile1926
Sinnar dam is the oldest in the country. It was built in 1926 to irrigate the Gezira Scheme. It has recently been rehabilitated, as part of a programme to rehabilitate the Gezira irrigation scheme. Work included refurbishment of the sluiceways and installation of additional isolating gates. The two irrigation channels are soon to be refurbished.

The Sinnar Dam is fundamental to the Sudanese economy and up to 60 per cent of the country's agricultural production is dependent upon its water. The dam is built on the Blue Nile, some 300km south of the capital. The resulting reservoir provides irrigation water. The dam is some 45m high, over 3km in length and built of rubble masonry

The total area of the lake resulted from the dam construction is 140-160 km2 with maximum depth averaging 26 meters The lake produces 1000 tons of fish year.

JABAL AWLIA - White Nile 1937
Jabal Awlia Dam is constructed in the year 1937; it is located about 50 km southwest of Khartoum. The dam built to support Aswan dam in southern Egypt, but handed over to Sudan government in 1977.

The lake resulted from the dam construction is 629 km in length and its average dimension is 6-2.3 km. The volume of fish estimated to be around 15.000 tons / year and is considered high in comparison with the available space, the northern part of the lake actual production within 8000 tons / year the fresh fish is transported to the capital.

Power Generation Project:
The project is for design and erection of 80 turbines. Each two turbines are a matrix will be erected at one dam gate. Turbine output is 380 KW. The total capacity will be 80 x 380 k watts.

The project will be subjected to eight divisions (LOTS) each lot consists of 10 turbines. The first lot (10 turbines) will be handed over after 16 months. The other eight lots of turbines will be handed over successively within 24 months. Vatech hydro the Austrian Comp. is the contractor. The contract signed on 20th of Dec. 2000, and the total contract price is 30 Million Euro.

ROSEIRES- Blue Nile1950
Rosaries Dam is built in the 1950, town of Damazin on the Blue Nile about 500 km southeast of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The 280 MW hydroelectric plants located at the dam supplies nearly half of Sudan’s power output, though generation varies greatly through the year with changing river flows. The dam also provides irrigation water for the Gezira Plain.

The lake resulted from the dam construction is 80 km in length and total area of 280 km with maximum depth averaging 50 meters, the area is expected to increase after the dam heightening is completed. The lake produces 1000 tons of fish annually.

Rehabilitation Project
Since the dam’s completion in the mid-1960s, the steel lining of the gates has become much corroded, hence, A German company has been commissioned to repair the gates and SMEC has been appointed engineering adviser to the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources.

SMECs’ role is to review and comment on the German rehabilitation design and to oversee the repair process which is carried out during several months of each year from December onwards when downstream access to the gates is possible. Repair is expected to take three or four years. Islamic Development Bank finances the work.

KHASHM AL-GERBA (ATBARA)
The dam was established on Atbara River in the year 1964, to irrigate Al-Gerba agricultural scheme and later on New Halfa scheme, the designed storage capacity of the dam is 1.2-milliar m3, in addition to the generation of electric power of 7000 KWHr.

The total area of the lake resulted from the dam construction is 125 km2 with maximum depth averaging 26 meters the lake produces 500 tons year.

Merowe Dam (Under Construction)
The Merowe High Dam, also known as Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project or Hamdab Dam, is a large construction project in northern Sudan, about 350 km north of the capital Khartoum. It is situated on the river Nile, close to the 4th Cataract where the river divides into multiple smaller branches with large islands in between. Merowe is a city about 40 km downstream from the construction site at Hamdab. The main purpose of the dam will be the generation of electricity. Its dimensions make it the largest contemporary hydropower project in Africa.

Technical details
The dam is designed to have a length of about 9km and a crest height of up to 67m. It will consist of concrete-faced rockfill dams on each riverbank, an earth-rock dam with a clay core in the left river channel and a live water section in the right river channel (sluices, spillway and power intake dam with turbine housings). Once finished, it will contain a reservoir of 12.5 km³, or about 20% of the Nile's annual flow. The reservoir lake is planned to extend 174 km upstream. The powerhouse will be equipped with ten 125MW Francis turbines, each one designed for a nominal discharge rate of 300 m³/s, and each one driving a 150 MVA, 15 kV synchronous generators. The planners expect an annual electricity yield of 5.5 TWh, corresponding to an average load of 625 MW, or 50% of the rated load. To utilize the extra generation capacity, the Sudanese power grid will be upgraded and extended as part of the project. It is planned to build about 500 km of new 500 kV aerial transmission line across the Bayudah desert to Atbara, continuing to Omdurman/Khartoum, as well as about 1000 km of 220 kV lines eastwards to Port Sudan and westwards along the Nile, connecting to Merowe, Dabba and Dongola.

Objectives of the Project:
1. To generate electricity power to meet the increasing demand for purposes of economical and social development.
2. To provide relatively cheap electricity power to improve the irrigated agriculture in the country.
3. To benefit from the flow irrigation for the upper stream river to achieve agricultural development, and to improve the breeds of agricultural seeds.
4. To use the electricity to pump up the ground water and use it to expand the agricultural sector
5. To establish industrial projects, food industry projects, and mining fields that depends on the electricity as a main energy source.
6. To introduce fishing industry in the Dam’s lake.
7. To protect the downstream areas from the destructive floods.
8. To improve the river transportation
9. To improve the living standards of the local residents in the area of the project, by creating investments and new job opportunities.
10. To reduce the pressure on the current dams, especially with regard to the struggle for water use for irrigation or power generation.


The completion of these projects will boost the economic beyond imagination.