Renovated Enguri HPP resumes power generation today
The total cost of the project was €45 million of which €7 million was a grant from the European Commission and the rest is a loan from the European Bank from Reconstruction and Development. Photo: Gov't of Georgia.
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The renovated Enguri hydro power plant (HPP), the largest electricity producer in Georgia that also supplies the country’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia, has started producing electricity today, announces Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava.
All five generators of the Enguri HPP were shut down on January 20, 2021 for urgent repairs in the HPP’s drainage tunnel, which is used to allow the water from the reservoir to enter the turbines. Some sections of the tunnel were damaged and large volumes of water were leaking.
In order to begin repairs on the tunnel, it was necessary to completely empty them first, which is why the HPP had to be shut down.
The Enguri Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Enguri River in Georgia. Currently it is the world's second highest concrete arch dam with a height of 271.5 metres. Photo: Gov't of Georgia.
The amount of electricity losses resulting from the leaks in the tunnel reached up to 250 million kilowatt-hours per year or one-tenth of all electricity consumed by Abkhazia per year.
As a result of the renovation of the HPP diversion tunnel, water losses will be reduced by 20-30%, which will generate an additional 90 million kWh of electricity per year", said Turnava.
The total cost of the project was €45 million of which €7 million was a grant from the European Commission and the rest is a loan from the European Bank from Reconstruction and Development.
Turnava said 'such large-scale, complex works have not been carried out for 15 years'.