Romeo Mikautadze, Georgia’s Deputy Minister for Economy and Sustainable Development, on December 23 said the country’s domestic electricity production hit 13 billion kWh this year, a “record-high figure” as well as a 15% increase YoY.
Addressing the Parliament’s Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee, the official said more than two-thirds of the domestic electricity generation had been sourced from hydroelectric power plants, noting their share in this year’s production had amounted to 80%.
He also noted the country had exported 988 million kWh – “one of the highest indicators in the last decade” – and stressed “every cubic metre of water at HPPs has been used to generate electricity”.
Mikautadze also told the lawmakers his body had signed 68 agreements with investors this year to ensure more than $800 million in investments and additional 2 billion kWh in domestic electricity production annually.
Speaking about the prospects of renewable energy sources – including wind and solar – in Georgia, the minister highlighted the “strategic importance” of the Black Sea submarine electricity cable project, signed this month between Azerbaijani, Georgian, Hungarian and Romanian officials in Bucharest and designed to export green energy to Europe via Georgia. (Agenda/Business World Magazine)