In the spring of 2021, the rehabilitated Enguri HPP was opened, which increased the capacity of the station by about 100 mgwt. At the same time, electricity consumption in Abkhazia this year is grown by an additional 26% compared to 2020, and it reached 1.95 billion kWh in 7 months of 2021. For comparison, this is more than what the whole of Tbilisi consumes.
A few months ago, the Georgian side declared that Abkhazia would receive electricity in accordance with the new principles during this winter.
According to Levan Mebonia, General Director of Enguri HPP, electricity meters will be installed in Abkhazia this year, which will reduce electricity consumption significantly. He also notes that control over mining is also tightened, but significant challenges still remain in the region.
"As far as I know, over 4,000 meters are ordered and they will be received soon. Abkhazia will make two-hour schedules on electricity consumption. They also dismantled too many bitcoin farms. The share of miners is almost halved compared to the last year, but still remains quite high”, - Mebonia said.
According to General Director of Enguri HPP, Abkhazia knows that Russia will not give electricity all the time. "They are trying to regulate and bring the accounting in order," – Mebonia adds.
As of the General Director of Enguri HPP, Abkhazia pays for Russian electricity by deducting money transfers from Russia. By 2021, the region received 923 million KWH from Russia, which was 47% of local consumption.
The sharp increase in electricity consumption in occupied Abkhazia is due to the artificially low electricity tariffs, increased mining and lack of electricity meters. The cost of electricity for people living in the region is 10-12 times lower than in Georgia. In particular, the official fee per kilowatt hour for the population is 1.78 tetri, while the tariff for legal entities is 3.4 tetri. Residents and businesses often do not pay for it either.
