TBILISI, September 17 – A U.S. federal judge has allowed Turkish investor Enka Renewables to pursue enforcement of an arbitration award of more than USD 400 million for Georgia’s abandoned Namakhvani hydropower project. The dispute dates back to the proposed 433 MW Namakhvani hydropower facility, a USD 800 million project that faced massive public protests … Read more
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 … Read more
TBILISI, May 10 – Georgian journalist Gela Mtivlishvili says he was attacked shortly after appearing on air, leaving him with injuries to his face. Mtivlishvili wrote on Facebook that the attack happened immediately after he left a broadcast. He accused a person he described as a hydropower lobbyist and a Georgian Dream-linked “street thug element” … Read more
TBILISI, May 5 – Georgia needs more diverse energy sources, stronger transmission lines and battery storage if it wants to become less vulnerable to shocks, a senior Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said. Keiju Mitsuhashi, ADB’s director for energy, said one of the key factors for strengthening Georgia’s energy independence is diversification, as reported by … Read more
TBILISI, January 19 – Georgia’s energy regulator has approved new fees for small hydropower plants that use irrigation canals, marking a change that will affect both energy producers and farmers across the country. The decision was announced by Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission, also known as GNERC or Semek. The new rules … Read more
TBILISI, November 26 – Two new hydropower plants planned along Georgia’s central Mtkvari River have cleared a regulatory hurdle, after the National Environmental Agency issued environmental approvals on Thursday for the construction and operation of the Skra HPP and the Urbnisi HPP. Both facilities will be built by the private company N-C Group 2022, which … Read more
TBILISI, November 4 – Tbilisi City Court held a preliminary hearing Tuesday in a new criminal case against Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of Georgia’s Co-Investment Fund, over alleged mismanagement connected to the Mtkvari hydropower plant project. At the hearing, the court reviewed the admissibility of evidence and is expected to decide whether the case … Read more
TBILISI, October 21 – Georgia has scrapped plans for dozens of hydro, wind, and solar power plants after finding that most existed only on paper and had no realistic chance of being built. The government’s October 13 decree canceled 1,746 megawatts worth of planned capacity from unfinished or unstarted projects that never advanced beyond early-stage … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgia’s government says it wants to make the country fully energy independent by 2030, a goal that Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze describes as achievable if new large-scale hydropower plants are built and renewable energy sources are expanded. In an interview with Gulf News, Kobakhidze said Georgia plans to increase its electricity … Read more
TBILISI, September 20 – Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze blames the halting of two major hydropower plans on ‘sabotage’ by foreign-funded groups. Hydropower projects in Georgia have long drawn street protests, but Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze now says some groups went further, engaging in sabotage and demands for stakes in energy projects. The PM pointed to … Read more