TBILISI, July 24 – A major power outage hit parts of Georgia shortly after midnight on Friday, cutting electricity in several cities, including Tbilisi, before supply began to return gradually in the early morning hours.
Interpressnews first reported at 00:30 that electricity had gone out in parts of the country. At that time, several cities, including the capital, were without power. People on social media also reported outages in Rustavi and Batumi, as well as in other parts of Georgia. According to the report, the outage began after about 00:11.
Georgia’s State Electrosystem later said the countrywide interruption happened at around 00:10 and described it as an emergency shutdown. The company said restoration work was under way and that electricity would be restored to consumers step by step as soon as possible.
By the time of that statement, electricity had already been partly restored in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region and in much of Tbilisi, according to the company.
The outage also affected water supply. Georgian Water and Power said at 01:20 that its pumping stations had stopped automatically because of the countrywide power cut. As a result, part of the population in Tbilisi, Rustavi and Mtskheta could face water restrictions or low water pressure. The company said its technical teams were working in emergency mode and that full water supply would resume once electricity returned to its pumping stations.
In an updated statement at 02:09, Georgia’s State Electrosystem said restoration was continuing across the country. It said electricity had partly returned to several Tbilisi districts, including Didube, Vake, Mtatsminda and Krtsanisi. Supply had also returned to parts of Kutaisi, Chiatura, Sachkhere, Oni and Ambrolauri.
The exact cause of the emergency shutdown was still being investigated early Friday. State Electrosystem warned that some versions spreading about the cause of the outage were disinformation and called on media outlets to rely only on official information.
