Zurab Noghaideli: Growing Domestic Generation is the Fundament for Georgia’s Energy Security

“Today, electricity imports from Azerbaijan essentially exceed the imports from Russia. Though, we cannot yet replace Russian electricity imports entirely”, Ex-Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, currently, head of the Elgreen supervisory board, noted in response to the question of whether Azerbaijan can fully replace electricity imports from Russia.

Elgreen company imports electricity from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a reliable partner and during the March 16 breakdown Azerbaijan proved this consideration when electricity supply was maintained to only that part of Georgian citizens who receive electricity from Azerbaijan, Zurab Noghaideli said.

"Naturally, we back that Georgia import electricity from various sources as long as the country needs this, but we should remember that electricity should be bought from the cheapest supplier. Today, only Azerbaijan provides the most favorable conditions”, Noghaideli said. Georgia’s key objective is to balance its electricity needs through its own power generation. It is impossible to achieve energy security without building major power facilities, Zurab Noghaideli said.

“This year, for example, the country will import around 2 billion kw/h. The figure will be 1.2 billion kw/h in 2022. Consequently, Georgia’s first goal is to replace imports with domestic generation in stages. We should understand that electricity imports drain out millions of USD abroad and this money is ejected from the Georgian economy, while the exports, on the contrary, will attract millions of USD to the country. Georgia should grow into an electricity exporter country, but before, we should balance electricity demand through our power generation. Growing domestic generation is the fundament for energy security”, Zurab Noghaideli said.