Power imports from Azerbaijan get more and more attractive for Georgia for the low cost.
In February 2021, power imports to Georgia totaled 413.7 million kWh, while 258 million kWh was imported from Russia, 188.8 million kWh – from Azerbaijan, and 6.9 million kWh – from Turkey.
In an interview with report.ge, specialist of power issues, professor Gia Arabidze says that Georgia should diversify power import markets and not be 'addicted' to only one country.
He says that currently, from the political and economic point of view, it is most beneficial for Georgia to import Azerbaijan's power. In his words, Georgia receives about 450-megawatt power from Russia, while 265 megawatts are spent on the Abkhazia region.
One megawatt equals a million watt and 1,000 kWh.
Georgia purchases about 300 megawatts (300000 kWh) from Turkey and 116 megawatts (116000 kWh) – from Azerbaijan.
As the expert tells report.ge, Georgia's trading balance has always been such: it received 60-70% from Azerbaijan and the rest 40-30% - from Russia. In his words, Azerbaijan, being a stable trade partner of Georgia, makes the imports more attractive.
As for the technical aspect, the power specialist explains that Georgia and Azerbaijan are linked with two power lines (Gardabani and Mukhrani lines) that represent a guarantee to receive the Azerbaijani power stably. He maintains that Georgia's power system has no two lines with any other neighbors.
"It's a kind of a guarantee in case of an incident on one line, the other will continue providing the power, and the stability will be maintained. Georgia and Russia are connected with a line passing through the Caucasus mountain which is not very strong and easily experiences damages in winter. Besides, Georgia-Russia relations are tense and we cannot 'hope' for this country to supply us with power. As for the Turkey-Georgia connecting line, its stability was under a question mark since its damage left a half of Georgia without electricity a while ago. Thus, Georgia and Azerbaijan has better and stable relations in terms of power imports… Multi-year relationship and readiness for deepening strategic ties confirm it," Arabidze says.
The prices of imported power are another issue. The expert tells us that the power imports prices are different and depend on many things, in particular:
"It is important what the prices are on the markets of these countries during the direct flow of electricity. During peak hours, the cost of power rises to seven cents. In addition to the fact that the reliability of supply is much higher when importing Azerbaijan's electricity than - from Turkey and Russia, there are often cases when Azerbaijan sells power at much lower prices than other countries. However, this is not always the case. Thus, if the technical aspect is not a problem, the price factor works, namely, which country offers Georgia cheap electricity when the government buys it. It often comes from Azerbaijan, although at times Russian electricity is cheaper, and there are cases when Turkey offers lower tariffs," Arabidze told report.ge.
