Messenger.ge, Georgia
Friday, April 1, 2005, #059 (0833)
Tbilisi’s energy crisis at an end?
RAO UES says Georgian capital will be fully supplied with electricity from
Thursday; rejects attempts to create ‘mistrust’
By Christina Tashkevich
RAO UES, which owns Tbilisi electricity distributor Telasi, announced on
Wednesday that despite the fact that the Kavkasioni transmission line is
still down, Tbilisi would be fully supplied with electricity as of March 31.
“This was made possible by the coordinated efforts of Russian and Georgian
power engineering specialists,” said member of RAO UES’ executive board
Andrei Trapeznikov in a company statement.
Georgia has been mostly in darkness for the last two weeks, with the regions
receiving virtually no electricity and only parts of the capital being
supplied on a regular basis.
The crisis was triggered by avalanches in early March which damaged the
Kavkasioni high-voltage transmission line supplying Georgia with
Russian-imported electricity. The unexpected loss of imported electricity
meant the water resources in Georgia’s hydroelectric stations, including
Enguri, were exhausted faster than expected, a situation exacerbated by the
recent cold weather.
While work on repairing Kavkasioni continues, RAO UES says engineers from
both Russia and Georgia have been busy trying to maximize the potential of
other energy sources, and that their efforts mean the whole of Tbilisi will
now be supplied with electricity 24 hours a day.
According to Telasi, the Alaverdi line is fully operational and is being
maximally exploited, importing 160 megawatts of electricity from Armenia.
The Salkhino line importing electricity from Russia via Abkhazia has also
been connected during the crisis.
The company supplying Tbilisi with energy reports further that the ninth
block of Gardabani electric plant is working and producing 200 megawatts,
while the recently rehabilitated third block is generating 100 megawatts.
Meanwhile, it reports, Enguri hydroelectric station is managing to produce
260 megawatts despite the low water level.
“Specialists from the local electricity distribution company Telasi point
out that as long as the work of generation and network equipment proceeds
without accidents, they will be able to provide the city with energy at full
capacity,” said Trapeznikov.
According to RAO UES, the restoration of the electricity supply from Russia
to Georgia in full capacity via Kavkasioni line will be achieved in a very
short period.
He promised that the entities within the RAO UES holding company will do
“everything possible to provide a reliable energy supply to Tbilisi.”
However, Trapeznikov stated that stability cannot be achieved in Georgia’s
energy system without serious technical re-equipment – the essential
investment necessary to build new electricity lines connecting Georgia with
Russia and to rehabilitate Enguri.
“RAO UES is ready to participate in these projects,” he says in the letter.
Last week Minister of Energy Nika Gilauri stated that the government will
make a final decision on the Enguri rehabilitation issue soon, adding that
in the meantime the government would work according to a plan to provide
Georgia with 24-hour electricity supply as of October 2006. The government
will presumably make a decision regarding the rehabilitation of Enguri this
week.
The statement comes on the heels of comments by President Saakashvili on
Tuesday that Georgia would never have reliable electricity as long as it was
solely dependent on Russia.
In its statement, RAO-UES stated they fully reject “any attempts to take
advantage of the problems existing in the energy supply to Georgian
consumers in a bid to produce an atmosphere of mutual distrust between the
peoples of Russia and Georgia.”