TBILISI, July 25 – Georgia’s power system collapsed again Saturday morning after a major transmission line went offline, the director of the Enguri hydropower plant said.
Levan Mebonia, director of Enguri HPP, told pro-opposition TV Pirveli that the outage was caused by the shutdown of the 500-kV “Imereti” line. He said a heavy load was passing through the line when it switched off, disrupting the system’s operating mode and bringing down the entire grid.
“The line switched off,” Mebonia said, adding that Enguri was restarting its units and that voltage had already reached the system.
According to Mebonia, Enguri connects to Georgia’s energy system through Zestaponi, and the failed line carried a very large load. When it went offline, he said, the system lost stability and collapsed.
Georgia’s State Electrosystem said electricity had been fully restored across the country by 10:15 on Saturday. The emergency outage was recorded at around 08:00. The company said it was still working to determine the cause.
The Saturday blackout came only one day after a similar nationwide emergency outage on Friday, July 24, when electricity was also cut across Georgia. That earlier outage began shortly after midnight and was later restored.
The new failure raises questions about the stability of Georgia’s power grid. Mebonia pointed to the shutdown of the Imereti line as the immediate trigger, while State Electrosystem said the exact cause was still being established.
