Shuakhevi Hydro Power Plant ready to operate

From summer 2017 the Shuakhevi Hydro Power Plant (HPP) will be fully operational, helping Georgia tap into its hydropower potential and achieve energy self-sufficiency, Agenda.ge reports.

As of today 100 percent of construction works have already been completed. In 2015 several international financial institutions teamed up to help Georgia build the Shuakhevi HPP by investing $416 million in the construction and operation of the power plant. 

Attending a construction completion ceremony in the Georgian region of Adjara today, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili congratulated the Georgian population with this giant step. Kvirikashvili thanked Adjaristsqali Georgia – a joint venture between India’s Tata Power and Norway's Clean Energy Invest, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for their contribution to the construction. ''Our supreme goal is to substitute locally produced energy with the imported one in shortest period of time. To achieve this we need unity between people and government, support from the international institutions and engagement of the local and foreign investors”, Kvirikashvili said.

He also said 300 local people will have permanent jobs at the Shuakhevi HPP, which will be a great stimulus for their families not to leave their region and stay committed to its development.

The HPP is expected to produce 450 gigawatt (GW) hours of power annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes per year.

The Shuakhevi HPP aimed to satisfy Georgia’s electricity demand during winter, reducing dependence on imported fuel and increase renewable energy output. It will also foster cross-border electricity trading at other times of the year by exporting electricity to Turkey through a transmission line financed by EBRD. The project was designed to benefit local communities by creating jobs, boosting municipal incomes and upgrading local roads.

The Shuakhevi project is the first hydropower project in Georgia certified by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for carbon emission reductions.