Tbilisi (GBC) - The Georgian government has instructed the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to allocate GEL 21.8 million to the Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE) for the construction of 6 power transmission lines of systemic importance in various regions of the country.
According to Government Decree No. 945, the funds will be used to co-finance projects funded by donor organizations. These include the 500-kilovolt power transmission lines (PTLs) “Tskaltubo-Akhaltsikhe-Tortumi” and “Jvari-Tskaltubo”, “Northern Ring” (Namakhvani-Tskaltubo-Lajanuri), “Kheledula-Lajanuri-Oni”, as well as projects to strengthen the power transmission infrastructure of Guria and Kakheti.
According to GSE, the 500 kV Jvari-Tskaltubo overhead line project is being implemented by the Turkish company Bozlar Yapi. Work on the project began in 2021 and is scheduled for completion in 4Q27. As for the 220 kV Khledula-Lajanuri and Oni-Lajanuri power transmission lines, a €25.6 million contract has been signed with India’s KEC International Limited for their construction, and the works are scheduled to be completed in January 2029.
The aforementioned infrastructure works are being implemented within the framework of the “Large-scale Investment Program for the Improvement of the Electricity Network” (ENIP), which is being implemented in partnership with the European Union, GSE, and the German Development Bank (KfW).
The total budget of the program is €270 million, which includes funding from the German government (through KfW) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as a grant of $9.9 million from the European Union Neighborhood Investment Platform (EU NIP).
The program, which began in 2021 and will be completed in 2028, includes the construction and expansion of 7 substations and more than 540 kilometers of power transmission lines in the regions of Imereti, Guria, Racha, Svaneti and Kakheti.