Page 40 - GEORptDec17

The corridor would be used to better manage seasonal peaks in electricity demand, Novak said. The four countries agreed to the project during an April 2016 meeting between their energy ministers in Yerevan.
The new "energy corridor" is likely Armenia's response to Azerbaijan's successful attempts at positioning itself as an important energy supplier in the region. Baku and Yerevan have been at odds for almost three decades over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Turkey have closed their borders with Armenia over the largely frozen conflict. That has resulted in the latter's economic isolation and almost total dependence on Russia.
Over the years, Azerbaijan has successfully pushed for regional cooperation formats, programmes and infrastructure projects linking Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan and A zerbaijan,RussiaandIran thathavefurtheredArmenia's isolation.
However, oil-poor and impoverished Yerevan has little in the way of a bargaining chip. Even its friendlier bigger neighbours, Russia and Iran, are likely to continue to use it as a go-between and a tool to counterbalance each other and Azerbaijan's ambitions and, in Russia's case, Georgia's animosity.
With regards to the transmission infrastructure, Iran has long used Armenian electricity to supply those northern areas that are remote and not well connected to its own power generation infrastructure. Even if this project is deemed feasible and goes through, its scale is likely to remain small.
9.1.8 Renewable energy sector news
Georgia is planning the construction of an underground gas storage facility and a coal-fired power plant, Reuters reported on November 29. State-owned Georgia Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) has obtained permission to build a storage facility that will be able to store up to 280mn cubic metres of gas, or 15% of the country's annual consumption. GOGC representatives told the news service that several companies have expressed interest in developing the project, and that it would announce the winning bid by May 2018. The facility is expected to cost up to $300mn and will provide a cushion for Georgia against changes in gas market conditions.
An energy-poor country, Georgia imports most of its gas from Azerbaijan. Up until a decade ago, Russia was its main gas purveyor, but political tensions prompted the change in energy policy.
Meanwhile, China's Dongfang Electric Corporation has signed a deal to build a 300-megawatt (MW) power plant in the south of Georgia. The plant will run on coal and help to cover peak demand in winter; in the summertime; the excess would be exported to Turkey.
Tbilisi's stance on renewable energy and fossil fuels has been equivocal in recent years. On the one hand, Georgian authorities have expressed support for renewable energy sources as a way of attaining self-sufficiency and mitigating environmental impacts. However, most of Georgia's clean energy presently comes from hydropower installations. Rapid growth in hydropower has attracted the criticism of environmental activists, who have pointed out
40 GEORGIA Country Report December 2017 www.intellinews.com