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Hydropower plants association complains about level of activists’ opposition in Georgia
“In fact, we expected this [decision] because Enka was not involved in the mediation anyway. When the mediation started in June, Enka refused to participate or even state their position, and this was a serious signal,” Chipashvili told OC Media.
On April 24, the government announced that the construction of the Namakhvani HPP would be suspended for nine to 12 months until the environmental, geological and seismological surveys were reviewed and confirmed. The ministry is to hire an international legal company to study the contract in the light of international norms and practices.
Most of the hydropower plant (HPP) projects in Georgia, with up to $4bn of investments, have by now been suspended due to protests, according to Giorgi Margebadze, executive director of the Association of Small and Medium Sized HPPs.
He is arguing in favour of small hydropower plants as they are less harmful to the environment—something which, however, appears to not be supported by the evidence. Small HPPs are likely to cause, per kilowatt of power generated, no less significantly adverse environmental impacts than large hydropower systems and some other conventional sources of energy, experts says. Georgia's government sees HPPs as a way to consolidate the country's energy security as domestic power consumption is likely to rise with economic development. It recently had to put on ice a major HPP project developed by Turkey's Enka after some 170 days of protests mounted by green organisations.
Margebadze complained about small hydropower plants facing public opposition and said that the risk of broken dams flooding villages is nonexistent. However, the green activists are pointing to other kinds of threats in the environmental sphere.
9.1.12 Utilities sector news
ADB approves $100mn electricity transmission loan for Georgia
Natural gas price hike in Tbilisi fuels Georgia’s problematic
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on September 21 the approval of a $100mn policy-based loan to support Georgia’s electricity transmission sector.
The financial backing is intended for “improving the operational structure, corporate governance, and financial management of the country’s electricity transmission company and its subsidiary.”
The loan, part of the Electricity Transmission Sector Reforms Program, aims to support the Joint-Stock Company Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE) and its subsidiary EnergoTrans to reduce their dependency on government funding and external borrowing.
The disbursement comes some three weeks after the government of Georgia preemptively refused a EUR 75mn loan on “highly favorable” terms from the EU, citing its wish to reduce foreign debt and avoid “political insinuations.” The 27-member bloc tied the disbursement of the loan, supposed to help Georgia cover its immediate financing needs that have increased due to the coronavirus outbreak, to judiciary reform. The EU said after the government’s refusal that Georgia failed to meet the condition and would not be eligible for the loan anyway.
The natural gas price charged by Tbilisi Energy, the utility that delivers gas to Georgia’s capital city and surroundings, will increase by 17% to Georgian lari (GEL) 539 ($163) per thousand cubic metres with effect from June 1, as per a May 27 decision introduced by the Georgian
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