On 26 November 2016 at the plenary session of the Parliament of Georgia, Georgian Dream member, Giorgi Gachechiladze, stated: “The production of electricity has increased by almost 20% since 2012 and the new power plants generate about two billion kw/h of electricity.”

verified the accuracy of this statement.

The data about Georgia’s electro-energy balance is published by JSC Electricity Market Operator (ESCO). Only the data of the first ten months of 2016 are available at the moment. The overall production, including the month of October, was 9,388.9 million kWh – about 340 kWh (3.75%) more than in the same period of the previous year. The growth as compared to the same period of 2012, on the other hand, is 1,316 kWh, constituting a 16.3% growth.

As for the new power plants, the Gardabani thermal power plant should be mentioned at the very beginning. The overall production of this power plant equalled 823 million kWh in the first ten months of 2016. No new regulatory hydro power plants have been put into operation since 2012. Paravani HPP and Larsi HPP, as seasonal HPPs, had a joint production of 397.3 million kWh in the first ten months of 2016. However, it should also be noted that no electricity has been generated since July 2016 in the case of the Larsi HPP. As for the deregulated HPPs, their number has increased by 14 units as compared to 2012 according to the 2016 energy balance data. Their overall production amounted to 266.9 million kWh. Hence, the overall production of the power plants launched from 2013 to 2016 amounted to 1,487.2 million kWh in the first ten months of 2016.

Whilst analysing the energy balance of a country, it is also important to look at the balance between the net production (taking the losses into account) and overall consumption (including the transportation costs). Chart 1 depicts the changes in the deficit for the past few years.

Balance between Net Production and Overall Consumption (Million kWh)

As the chart depicts, the net production of electricity in Georgia from 2007 to 2011 exceeded the overall local demand including the transportation costs. From 2012 to 2015, however, we have a clear electricity deficit. The deficit was especially high in 2014, reaching about 248 million kWh. It decreased, however, in 2015, going down to just 39 million kWh. No deficit has been recorded according to the data of the first ten months of 2016 with surplus electricity amounting to 126 million kWh. However, consumption in the months of November and December increases whilst the production decreases as specific conditions of the Georgian energy sector are taken into consideration. Hence, it is expected that the surplus will be decreased by the end of the year.

According to the data of the first ten months of 2016, the overall production of electricity in Georgia exceeded the levels of 2012 by 16.3%, reaching about 9,388.9 million kWh. Of this amount, about 1,487.2 kWh was produced by the power plants launched from 2013 to 2016. It should be noted, however, that the consumption needs of the Georgian electricity market have not been met since 2012 and the deficit is balanced with imports.