Renewable Energy

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Why Invest in Georgia?

Growing domestic demand

From 2007 to 2011, Georgia was net electricity exporter, but since 2012, the country has become a net importer of electricity, with only exception being 2016.

With the completion of the HPPs currently under construction exports are expected to grow in the summer period, however without additional Power Plants Georgia’s generation capacity will not be sufficient to meet domestic demand in the long term, as per capita electricity consumption and industrial sector continues to grow. According to estimates, deficit by 2030 will reach more than 3 TWh.

Why Invest in Georgia?

Developed Grid Infrastructure

Georgia has well developed transmission grid infrastructure. Whole territory of Georgia is covered with over 4,380 km of high, medium and low voltage lines and about 100 substations.

In 2013, a new 400 KV line with HVDC back-to-back substation connecting Georgia with Turkey was commissioned, adding to already significant transmission capacity with all neighboring countries. As of now, cross border transmission capacity stands at about 5,000 MW.

Why Invest in Georgia?

Perfect Export opportunity

Georgia is surrounded by countries that either have higher electricity generation cost or electricity deficit.

With abundance of high mountains and fast-flowing rivers, Georgia has competitive advantage over neighbors in terms of generation cost.

Most attractive export market is Turkey, which is one of the top countries in terms of electricity demand increase. Turkey experiences electricity shortage during summer months, while Georgia has generation surplus.

Why Invest in Georgia?

Liberalized and deregulated market

Starting from 2008 Georgia has liberalized and deregulated energy market. All new renewable projects are based on Build-Own-Operate (BOO) principle. Investor is free to choose buyer on open market and negotiate price.

Generation and export activities are exempted from VAT tax. All HPPs that smaller than 13 MW do not require generation license and HPPs smaller than 2 MW do not require environmental impact assessment either.

No license is required for export and new HPPs have priority access to the capacity on the new interconnection to Turkey.

Georgia is member of The Energy Community, which means Georgian internal energy market rules and principles will in line with the EU market rules, leading to an integrated pan-European energy market

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Investment Opportunities

As consumption continues to rise not only in Georgia, but in neighboring countries as well, there is great opportunity to develop new power plants to keep up with this ever-increasing demand.

Georgia has more than 20,000 rivers and almost 300 of them provide excellent opportunity for hydropower generation. Georgia is one of the top countries in terms of water resources per capita and it is logical that today about 70% of total electricity is generated from Hydro Power. All new hydro power plants are fully deregulated. Investor is free to choose the market and negotiate the price. HPPs with installed capacity of 15MW or less do not require generation license and HPPs that have installed capacity of 2 MW or less don't need environmental impact permit either. They can sell generated electricity to direct consumers without third party. Additionally, license for export are not required.

TPPs are source of guaranteed electricity supply. Usually, TPPs are in standby mode, ready to supply the system when needed, typically in winter period. They are vital to Georgia’s electrical stability. Because of this, even when in standby mode TPPs receive payment to cover maintenance and fixed costs. Tariffs are set by regulator.

Georgia offers an attractive opportunity for investments in wind power plants. Wind potential of Georgia is estimated at 4 TWh. Wind power offers great addition to hydro power generations, as wind generation is higher during winter, when hydro generation is lower. It is estimated that share of power generated by wind in Georgia will reach 10% by year 2030. Success story of wind power in Georgia is Qartli 1 projetc, which was first wind power plant project in Georgia, in the area of Gori and Kareli municipalities, with installed capacity of 20.7 MW and annually generated electricity equivalent to 84 100 000 mln kWh. Qartli Wind Farm was awarded as a best Renewable Energy Deal of 2016 by EMEA Finance. The project was privatized in 2019.

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