Georgia plans to develop its domestic wind power industry beginning next year. The measures proposed to facilitate growth of the industry include allowing energy export by foreign investors and providing land at low prices.
According to a Wind Power Monthly report, Georgia plans to allow foreign investors to export up to 80 percent of energy produced by wind projects they establish in the country.
The projects are to be developed with funding from local governments in coordination with private investors and the recently established Georgian Energy Development Fund (GEDF). The government-backed body was created to develop renewables in Georgia.
Part of funding for the projects would come from European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the report adds.
The country has identified Poti, Chorokhi, Kutaisi and Sabueti regions in the west of the country; the Gori and Kaspi regions in central Georgia; and the Rustavi region in the south-east for the development of wind power projects.
In all the plans are to develop 1.45 gigawatts of installed wind power capacity. And the projects are scheduled for commissioning during 2018-2019.
According to GEDF general director Giorgi Bezhuashvili, the first wind power project of the country is expected to be commissioned in the spring of 2016. The 20-megawatt project has been sited about 76 kilometers northwest of Tbilisi, and will require $26 million for completion.
Ajith Kumar S