Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday talked about the energy projects while submitting 2022 Report. Garibashvili claims that 2300 megawatts of generation will be added to Georgia in 2-3 years.
"For the last 5 years, investments in this field have almost stopped. On my instructions, we actively worked with the IMF and agreed to launch a new scheme, which has already been approved by the government. We will announce a tender for a total of 1500 megawatts. In addition, 800 MW will be launched, for which PPA agreements have already been signed and issued.
In total, at least in 2-3 years, we are talking about HPPs with a capacity of up to 2300 megawatts. This is an investment of USD 3 billion. This includes both hydro, solar and wind energy, which is very important for the energy security and energy independence of our country", said the Prime Minister.
Garibashvili also spoke about the energy crisis created in Europe and the importance of new generations in this process.
"Now we are looking at what is happening in Europe - energy crisis, price increase. The average price of one kWh of electricity is 20 cents in European countries. In Germany, even 80 cents was recorded in the summer months, in some places 50-60 and the average is 20 cents. We have a very cheap electricity price, that's why we need it. It is for this purpose that we approved a new scheme", says Garibashvili.
Prime Minister also deemed the Black Sea Electricity Cable project ‘historic,’ fully backed by the European Union.
The PM continued by referring to it as “the second Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project,” guaranteeing a direct connection to the EU’s energy grid.
“The initiative itself, as it was presented to the EU and partner nations, was “an entirely Georgian initiative,” according to Garibashvili.
Together with Romania, we started the project implementation, which was joined by Azerbaijan, Hungary, and fully supported by the European Union,” the PM underscored.
The cost of the Black Sea Electricity Cable project, according to Garibashvili, would be between USD 2 and USD 3 billion.
On 17 December, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Romanian Prime Minister Romania Nicolae Ciucă signed the agreement for the development of the 1,100-kilometer-long Black Sea strategic submarine electricity cable aimed at transporting energy from Azerbaijan to the EU via Georgia.
