Plans to develop the hydroelectric potential of the Gilgel Gibe river were first announced in the 1980s.
Construction of the Gilgel Gibe I Power Station started in 1986 and was completed in 2004, after being interrupted in the early 1990s.
The plant includes a reservoir of about 0.917 cubic kilometers created by a dam about 40 meters high.
[2] The second phase of the development of the Gibe-Omo hydropower potential started with the Gilgel Gibe II Power Station on the Omo River.
This second phase was 97.5% complete in August 2009 and was scheduled for commissioning in September 2009 onwards.