Page 52 - GEORptMay20

Kakauridze said that construction work started last year and €6mn has already been spent.
LSE-listed Georgian holding Georgia Capital, the largest shareholder in the Bank of Georgia and Georgia Healthcare Group, has announced that it has received permits to develop two wind farms with an installed capacity of 108MW.​ At present, Georgia has a sole wind farm, with a capacity of 21MW, It was purchased by the holding from the state last November
The government has approved the concept for the group's renewable energy business's Wind Power Plant (WPP) projects near Tbilisi and Kaspi, Georgia Capital announced on January 13.
The approval represents a significant milestone in obtaining Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) from the state, and these are expected to be finalised in the near future, according to Georgia Capital press release.
The Tbilisi and Kaspi wind farms are expected to have an average capacity factor within the 35%-40% range. Both projects are to be constructed in parallel with an expected commissioning date in the second half of 2022. Georgia’s first wind farm, Qartli Wind Farm was developed by the state with financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Wind farms with 350 MW of installed capacity will be built in Georgia by 2021, according to Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Davit Tvalabeishvili, as ​quoted​ ​by Business Media. According to Tvalabeishvili, 350 MW is the maximum power that the Georgian electricity system could receive from wind farms at this time.
"We conducted a study with German experts and found that by 2021, with the reserve capacities we have in the system, we could build about 350 MW of wind power stations and about 130 MW of solar power. If we build more, we could face blackouts since we do not have enough backup capacity," he was cited as saying.
The government has developed incentives to support the development of wind farms. It will pay 6.5 US cents per kWh over the first 10 years of operations.
9.2 ​Major corporate news 9.2.1 ​Oil & gas corporate news
Georgia-focused Block slashes spending, shuts down wells
Georgia-focused junior Block Energy has followed its larger peers in announcing steep cuts in spending.
The company, which last month unveiled​ ​a deal​ ​to expand its Georgian operations, announced on April 7 a 40% reduction in its cash spending. It also said it would shut down its two producing wells at the West Rustavi gas field in order to conserve gas resources until a sales pipeline is finished later this year. The pair had been flowing at a combined rate of 325 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
The wells have gas-to-oil ratio of around 50:50, and Block Energy wants to save the gas until it can extract it at a higher margin. Early stage gas production facilities are en route to West Rustavi, the largest of Block Energy’s three fields, located near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The wells’ oil has a Brent break-even price of only $24 per barrel.
Depending on the oil price, Block plans to continue producing crude at its Norio and Satskhenisi fields, and if necessary store the barrels until prices recover.
52​ GEORGIA Country Report ​May 2020 ​​www.intellinews.com