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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.
"Many hydropower plants have been shut down because of similar protests; [and they represent] about $4bn in investment and more than 20,000 jobs. Small and medium-# sized hydropower plants are radically different from large hydropower plants. No dams are being built here, but the problems [with the public opposition] are the same. When we try to explain to the population that all this is not true [in terms of dams breaking], they do not pay attention, because the topic, HPPs, is demonised," said Margebadze.
He cited the case of Lopotahes, which is only 6 megawatts in size, as an example. According to Margebadze, the association is constantly trying to enter into a dialogue with locals and opponents of this HPP.
"Today there is a campaign against hydropower, no matter whether the HPP will be one megawatt, two or more. Everyone is protesting, everyone is fighting. The wind projects also have problems," he said.
9.1.13 Utilities sector news
Natural gas price hike in Tbilisi fuels Georgia’s problematic inflation
Georgia’s electricity consumption down 5.5% in 2020
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 National Energy Regulatory Commission (GNERC).
The move will further push up headline inflation, which in April stood at 7.2%, unchanged from March. Rising inflation has already forced the monetary authority to increase its key interest rate to 9.5%. The National Bank of Georgia (NBG), citing a rather bleak inflationary outlook generated by overlapping domestic and external factors, hiked the key rate, namely the refinancing rate, on April 28 by 1pp, following the 0.5pp it added in March. The resultant and rather hawkish 9.5% rate is the highest seen in Georgia for several years.
The current gas tariff entered into force on January 1, 2020, and was meant to apply until the end of 2022.
GNERC said that the hike was necessary to ensure a “safe and reliable” gas supply to the capital.
Tbilisi Energy requested the rate increase, citing a GEL25mn ($7.6mn) loss incurred over the past year and a half due to currency depreciation. The company said it has also asked to calculate the gas price in the national currency in the months ahead to “protect the population” against price increases in relation to exchange rate fluctuations.
Earlier, on January 3, the company's gas price was increased by 31% to GEL1,100 ($333) per thousand metres for commercial users.
Tbilisi Energy supplies gas to around 1.5mn people and 18,000 commercial users.
Electricity generation and consumption in Georgia dropped by 5.8% and 5.5%, respectively, in 2020, in line with lower economic activity. According to the Georgian electricity market operator "Esco", total generation last year amounted to 11.16 TWh, equivalent to 5.8% less than in 2019, when
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