Indian power company Tata Power has announced that Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL) - its joint venture with Norway's Clean Energy Invest AS Norway and the World Bank’s IFC InfraVentures (IFC) – has completed construction of the 187MW Shuakhevi hydropower project in Georgia.
Indian power company Tata Power has announced that Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL) – its joint venture with Norway's Clean Energy Invest AS Norway and the World Bank’s IFC InfraVentures (IFC) – has completed construction of the 187MW Shuakhevi hydropower project in Georgia.
The US$420 million Shuakhevi porject is the largest hydropower plant to be built in Georgia over the past fifty years. Its completion was celebrated on the 3 July in a ceremony presided by the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, and the Vice Prime Minister and Energy Minister, Kakha Kaladze.
Construction of the plant started in the fall of 2013. As a part of this project, one Weir and two dams with their respective reservoirs and connecting tunnels have been constructed to divert water for power generation. The water conductor system consists of three tunnels with cumulative length of 33.48km and 3.75km of construction adits. The Shuakhevi project is the first hydropower project in Georgia to have been certified by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to reduce carbon emissions. It will generate about 470GWh of clean energy while lowering greenhouse gases emissions by more than 200,000 tons per year.
Around 730 Georgian citizens were employed in the plant construction. Post the launch of operations, the project will significantly contribute to Georgia’s path toward energy independence. The power generated by the project will be exclusively sold within Georgia throughout the winter which is a period of energy deficit.