TBILISI, May 27 – Georgia is bringing back an electricity barter scheme with Turkey, using surplus hydropower in summer to cover expected shortages later in the year.
The change was approved by Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili, and will mean that Georgia will export electricity to Turkey from May to July 2026 through the Electricity System Commercial Operator (ESCO). Turkey will then return the same amount of electricity to Georgia from September to November.
The deal is based on the seasonality of hydropower; Georgia’s main electricity source. Georgia will export the power during months when rivers are high and hydropower plants generate more than is needed on the domestic grid. Then, Turkey will send electricity back in autumn, when domestic demand rises and hydro output is usually lower.
The government order says the mechanism is meant to support the “sustainable, reliable and stable functioning” of Georgia’s electricity system, manage excess spring-summer generation and help cover future deficits, Georgia Today reported.
Georgia used a similar barter mechanism with Turkey in 2018. ESCO figures show that Georgia imported 64.4 million kWh from Turkey that year, while exporting 386.3 million kWh to the Turkish market.
Turkey is already Georgia’s main export market for electricity. In 2025, Georgia exported 0.5 TWh of electricity, down 51.2% from the previous year. Turkey was the destination for 78.5% of those exports. But Georgia was still a net electricity importer in 2025, with imports exceeding exports by 1.0 TWh.
