Environmental impact assessment

Project description
and objectives:

The Republic of Georgia intends to expand and upgrade the country’s electricity grid. One part of this program will be to complete a high-voltage transmission line across southern Georgia. The line will connect Gardabani to Zestaphoni via Akhaltsikhe, and a new line will run from near Akhaltsikhe to the Turkish border. In addition, the project will expand electrical substations near Gardabani and Zestaphoni and construct a new substation near Alkaltsikhe.

Georgia’s energy strategy calls for 100 percent of power to come from hydropower and for Georgia to export power to neighbouring countries, including Turkey.

Over half of the foundations and towers for the new line were constructed between 1989 and 1992, when the project was abandoned. The Ministry of Energy now proposes to complete this line, and to extend it to the Turkish border. The reasons for the project include:

• Energy security
• Balance energy demand
• Increase energy reliability
• Increase exports
• Strengthen regional power grid

The Project Execution Agency for the project is the Georgia State Electrosystem (GSE). GSE, through its daughter company EnergoTrans, will be responsible for designing and constructing the line.

There is a project summary document available for this project.

EIA summary:

Executive summary (English)  (1.4Mb)
Executive summary (Georgian)  (1.6Mb)
Executive summary (Armenian)  (1.2Mb)
Executive summary (Azeri)  (1.1Mb)

Full EIA availability:

Full EIA documentation is available locally at:
EBRD's Business Information Centre in London

And

Tbilisi

• Energotrans Ltd, Ministry of Energy Building: Tbilisi, Baratashvili street No 2.
  
  
• Ministry of Energy of Georgia: Tbilisi, Baratashvili street No2.
  
  
• Scientific Research Firm GAMMA Ltd: Tbilisi, Merab Alexidze Street No9.
  
  
• Aarhus centre Tbilisi office: Tbilisi, 6 Gulua Street.

Kutaisi

• Georgian State Electrosystem, Kutaisi Branch, Kutaisi, Avtomshenebelis Street No 2a

Marneuli

• Environmental information centre in Marneuli, Leselidze street No1

Gardabani

• Environmental information centre in Gardabani, David Agmashenebelis Avenue No127

Borjomi

• Visitor’s centre of Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, Meskheti street No23

Akhaltsikhe

• Samtskhe-Javakheti Regional Department of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources, Didimamishvili Street 2a.

And

EBRD Resident Office - Marjanishvili street, (Green Building, IV - V floor) Tbilisi 0102, Georgia

And

Full ESIA documentation is available locally in Georgian and English at http://www.minenergy.gov.ge/ 

Enquiries:

Environmental or social enquiries:
Ministry of Energy of Georgia
Marita Arabidze
Chief Specialist
Baratashvili Str.2, Tbilisi

Tel: + 995 22 35 78 22 (office), +995 93 72 85 95 (mobile)
E-mail: marita.arabidze@minenergy.gov.ge