Lasha Iordanishvili, CEO of the energy company PERI, stated in an interview with BMG that solar and wind energy cannot replace hydropower in Georgia.
Iordanishvili’s company owns 10 MW of solar power plants, which were added to Georgia’s energy system for the first time this year. According to the country’s energy balance, between August and October 2025, these solar stations produced a total of 2.43 million kWh of electricity.
Asked about the performance of the solar plants, Iordanishvili explained:
“In a country like ours, hydropower must be the flagship. Hydropower cannot be replaced by wind or solar energy. In general, the efficiency coefficient of solar energy is about 17%, while wind energy is about twice that, and hydropower is three to four times higher. Therefore, the production figures you saw are not surprising—they are absolutely consistent with what solar energy can achieve in Georgia. Neither the sun nor wind can replace hydropower here. However, as we are a large company, our portfolio includes solar, wind, and significant hydroelectric capacities,” he said.
It is worth noting that in the third quarter of 2025, three solar power plants were launched in test mode, with an installed capacity of up to 10 MW. These include the El-Hab’s Kaspi solar station and the Alazani solar stations in Khorsi and Gurjaani. These facilities are Georgia’s first industrial-scale solar power plants.
