Hydropower

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The Enguri hydropower plant. Shota Kincha/OC Media.

Abkhazia

Abkhazia introduces six-hour power cuts following Enguri HPP damage

by OC Media

•3 min read

Abkhazia has introduced daily six-hour power cuts following significant damage to a section of the Enguri (Ingur) hydroelectric power plant and insufficient Russian-provided electricity. The Enguri hydroelectric power plant (HPP) is located along the boundary between Abkhazia and Georgia, with Sukhumi (Sukhum) and Tbilisi sharing the power plant’s output. The authorities in Abkhazia increased the number of hours of daily blackouts from four to six hours on Sunday, after they suspended the E

Abkhazia

Controversy after Abkhazian officials meet with Ingur HPP management in Georgia

by OC Media

•2 min read

A number of senior Abkhazian officials attended a meeting with Georgian representatives of the Ingur (Enguri) hydropower plant on 22 December, prompting public condemnation in Abkhazia. Kristina Ozgan, Abkhazia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister, led the Abkhazian delegation. As news spread of the delegation’s visit, several of Abkhazia’s opposition figures criticised the meeting’s secretive nature. The Ingur dam and hydroelectric power station is the main source of electricity

Envrionment

Podcast | Going against the flow: Georgia’s controversial hydropower plants

by OC Media

•2 min read

Georgia generates a staggering 85% of its electricity through hydropower plants; however, while further exploitation of Georgia’s hydropower potential sounds promising on paper, local activists and researchers say that a lack of feasibility and safety research before the construction of hydropower plants could pose significant risks. This week on the Caucasus Digest, Hannah O’Sullivan, an energy researcher, talks about the present and future role of hydropower in Georgia.

Thousands gathered on 14 March in Kutaisi to protest the project. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Environment

In Pictures | Anti-dam protesters gather in Kutaisi

by Mariam Nikuradze

•3 min read

On Sunday, thousands gathered in the central Georgian city of Kutaisi to protest the construction of the nearby Namakhvani hydropower project. The main demand of the protesters, who have been rallying intermittently for the last 141 days, is for the Georgian government to cancel its ‘unlawful’ decision to support the construction of the Namakhvani hydropower plant. An additional and more recent demand is the resignation of Economy Minister Natia Turnava. [Read on OC Media: Activists prot

The protest in Kutaisi on 28 February. Photo: EMC.

Environment

Thousands turn out for Kutaisi hydropower protest

by Shota Kincha

•3 min read

Thousands have turned out to protest in Kutaisi against the construction of the nearby Namakhvani hydropower project Protesters gathered on the west-Georgian city’s central square on Sunday calling on the authorities to revisit their ‘unlawful’ decision to support the project. Opponents have vowed to ‘picket’ the city in two weeks time if their demand is not met. ‘If they don’t take into account today’s meeting and what is happening here, we’ll agree to gather again in two weeks’, Varlam Gol

A protester behind the ‘we are defending homeland’ banner in Zhoneti. Image: Shota Kincha/OC Media.

Environment

Activists protest dam construction in northwest Georgia

by Shota Kincha

•5 min read

A planned $800 million hydropower project in the Tskaltubo and Tsageri municipalities, the largest in the country, is meeting resistance from residents of the Rioni River valley. On 22 November, opponents of the Namakhvani HPP Cascade Project gathered outside the offices of Enka Renewables in Zhoneti, a village 20 kilometres north of the capital of Imereti, Kutaisi. They demanded that the company drop their plans to construct the dam. ‘We have been protesting for the last three years, but

Future territory of the Nenskra reservoir. Photo: Tamuna Chkareuli/OC Media.

Environment

Investors: Georgia’s Nenskra Dam violates Svan rights

by Tamuna Chkareuli

•5 min read

The Nenskra hydropower plant in Georgia’s Svaneti region has been found to be ‘non-compliant’ with a series of standards required by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), two of the project’s major investors. Other investors into the $1 billion dollar project include the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Korean Development Bank. The EBRD and EIB have approved $214 million and $150 million lo