The dam, to be located at Kara Dobe on the border between the Amhara and Oromia regional states, is expected to cost US$800M, local newspapers reported.
The project, part of a series of dams to be built in the next few years, is the result of an agreement signed in 2001 between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.
Pre-feasibility studies for the dam are expected to be completed by mid 2006. On completion, the Ethiopian Electric Power Company is to take over from the Ministry to construct the dam.
