Image of the Week: Landsat Views of Africa's Largest Hydro Dam

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is set to become the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa.

Located near the Sudan border in Ethiopia, the promising and controversial project impacts communities up and down the Blue Nile.

Landsat sensors capture the region in false color infrared, emphasizing the reservoir's boundary.

In 2023, the fourth and final phase of reservoir filling was completed, with its water level settling 125 meters above the Blue Nile's original elevation.

Landsat captured imagery in 2022 after the phase three fill, as well as phase two in 2021, and phase one in 2020. Landsat imagery from 2019 shows the area before the official filling process had begun.

The final elevation of the reservoir has created approximately 70 islands with strong tourism potential, according to local officials.