Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia are scheduled to resume negotiations over Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Sunday after the one-month halt.
The three countries have held several rounds of talks since Ethiopia began implementing the project in 2011, yet they failed to reach an agreement on the filling and operation of the vast reservoir behind the 145-meter (475-foot) tall dam.
The last round of negotiations, held by videoconference, ended in early November, without progress.
The official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) stated that officials from South Africa, which currently holds the African Union (AU) presidency, will participate in the new round of talks.
SUNA added that Sudan would propose giving AU experts a "greater role" in negotiations to reach a binding agreement on filling and operating the GERD.
The European Union (EU), an observer of the GERD negotiations, welcomed the upcoming talks, stressing that they provide an "important opportunity for progress" toward reaching an agreement.
Ethiopia stresses that the hydroelectric power produced at the dam is necessary to meet the energy needs of its population of more than 100 million people.
It insists that downstream water supplies will not be affected.
Sudan, which suffered severe floods last summer when the Blue Nile reached its highest level, hopes the new dam will help regulate the river's flow.
The Blue Nile, which meets the White Nile in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, provides the vast majority of the Nile’s water that flows through northern Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean.
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