Georgia’s Electricity Imports in 1Q21 Hit $31.6 Million

Georgia’s electricity imports in the first quarter of 2021 rose by 9.3% and the country spent $31.6 million ($28.9 million in January-March 2020).

According to Geostat, the national statistics service of Georgia, at the beginning of 2021, Georgia imported electricity from three countries, including the greater part was imported from Azerbaijan.

1. Azerbaijan - $21 million;

2. Russia - $6 million;

3. Turkey - $4.5 million.

According to the Electricity System Commercial Operator (ESCO), in 1Q21, the electricity imports rose by 93% to 1.43 billion kw/h. According to the energy balance, in January-March 2021, electricity imports in Georgia’s total consumption amounted to 41%, as a result of rehabilitation works at Enguri HPP. As reported, Enguri HPP will resume operation in May 2021.

According to the statistics, the greater part of electricity was imported from Russia – 863 million kw/h, including 750 million kw/h was supplied to Abkhazia. Electricity imports from Azerbaijan constituted 463 million kw/h, Turkey – 111 million kw/h. As for electricity consumption, the figure increased by 3.35 to 3.47 billion kw/h, including TELASI subscribers consumed 722 million kw/h, while Abkhazia’s consumption amounted to 919 million kw/h. Thus, de-facto Abkhazia consumed more electricity compared to Tbilisi.