Economy Minister Announces 5-Year USAID Program to Ensure Georgia’s Energy Independence

USAID and the Government of Georgia held an official inauguration of the Securing Georgia’s Energy Future Program. The presentation was held in Gori, on the Wind Power Station territory.

The 5-year program will be implemented by LLC Deloitte Consulting with the financial support of USAID. As noted by Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava, the project’s budget is $15.7 million.

The objective of the project is to improve energy security through reforms and sustainable development in the energy field with the aim to help the country fulfill obligations as part of the EU association agreement. The presentation was attended by USA Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan and Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava.

“The US Government helps us in carrying out energy reform and developing the Georgian energy sector. They assist us in implementing a very important 5-year program – securing Georgia’s Energy Future and Energy Security Program. A key objective of our reforms and our energy policy is to make our energy sector absolutely independent, strong, based on our resources, and less dependent on imports and our US friends will assist in this direction”, Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava said and added that Georgia should develop its own renewable energy sources – hydropower stations, wind and solar power stations and other renewable energy technologies.

“Naturally, we should provide active trade with the neighboring countries. We also plan to lay the Black Sea high-voltage electricity cable to connect our region to the European energy market, but, first of all, we should mobilize our own sources and become very strong in this regard. Therefore, our energy security strategy comprises various components, including the development of new stations based on domestic energy sources, cybersecurity and this is very important for our new networks”, Natia Turnava said.