"Large hydropower plants are very important for system stability"

“Large hydropower plants are very important for the stability of the system,” says Inga Pkhaladze, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development.

According to her, in this regard, Georgia’s potential in terms of hydropower resources is very high.

“80% of today’s generation comes from hydropower. Accordingly, in order to ensure the stability of the system, diversification must take place in the system. Diversification also implies the development of other sources - these are the sun and wind, as we have distributed them equally in percentage. However, the potential of existing hydropower resources, of course, exceeds it, given that until now more generation has come from hydropower. The contribution of large hydropower plants to generation is determined not only by engineering significance, here the factor that the stability of the system will be ensured by those hydropower plants that have reservoirs is very important,” said Inga Pkhaladze.

According to the Deputy Minister, since 80% of the country's hydropower generation comes from run-of-river hydroelectric power plants, the existence of (large) hydroelectric power plants with reservoirs, which ensure the stable functioning of the system, is critically important to meet demand during peak consumption hours and reduce dependence on imports.

"In order to ensure the satisfaction of consumption during peak hours and reduce dependence on imports, it is important to have large hydroelectric power plants. Large hydroelectric power plants ensure that reservoirs are filled during low water levels, which subsequently allows for balancing peak consumption, that is, at this time you use the accumulated electricity and thus reduce dependence on imports," Inga Pkhaladze noted.