Technical experts from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia will meet in Sudan on Thursday to discuss technical issues related to studies on the impact of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on downstream countries, an Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman told Al-Ahram Arabic news website The 15th round of the meetings in the north-eastern Sudanese city of Atbara will discuss a preliminary report about the technical methodology of the planned studies by French firms French firms BRL and Artelia, spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told Al-Ahram Arabic website. BRL said last year that the studies were scheduled to start in late 2016 and should take 11 months. The latest meeting was held in Addis Ababa in May and concluded without resolving points of contention over the dam studies, which will assess the hydrological, environmental and economic impact of the megaproject on downstream countries Sudan and Egypt. That meeting discussed the terms under which the studies are to be carried out, the data the two French firms commissioned with conducting the studies need to provide, and the mechanism of sharing and verifying information presented by the firms, the statement said. The meeting also addressed points of concern by the three countries on an initial report delivered in late March by the French firms about the technical studies, The 6,000-megawatt Grand Renaissance Dam, which is slated for completion this year, is situated close to Ethiopia's border with Sudan. Ethiopia hopes it will be able to export electricity generated by the dam. Egypt, however, has expressed concerns that the dam might reduce its share of Nile water. Ethiopia maintains that the dam will not have any negative impact on Egypt or Sudan.
