Azerbaijan, main electricity supplier to Georgia

By Leman Mammadova

Georgia imported more than 1.28 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in January-November 2018, the report of the Georgian Electricity System Commercial Operator (ESCO) said.

More than 1 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity imported by Georgia over this period accounted for Azerbaijan.

The volume of electricity imported by Georgia in November amounted to 219 million kWhr, 215.5 million kWh or 98 percent of which was supplied by Azerbaijan.

During the first eleven months of 2018, Georgia's electricity exports amounted to 588.6 million kWh, 23.1 million kWh of which were sent to Azerbaijan.

Recently, Azerbaijan and Georgia signed a memorandum on the prospects of Azerbaijani-Georgian power systems after discussion of the state of the power systems of Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as the construction of a 330 kW two-way (duplex) transmission line.

Azerenergy JSC is the main exporter of electric energy in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan exported 1.380 billion kWh of electricity worth $64.9 million, that is 444.7 million kWh of 47.55 percent more than in the previous year, according to the State Customs Committee (SCC). The electricity was sold at $0.047 or 0.0799 manats a kWh. Electricity export made up 0.42 percent of Azerbaijan’s total export.

Georgia is expected to double electricity imports per year. According to the forecast of Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Georgia will import more than 2.8 million kWh of electricity in 2019. The current import was 1.4 million kilowatt / hour. The maximum limit for imports in the next year is predicted to be 407.9 million kWh in March.

The creation of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey energy bridge will enable to integrate into the European electricity market in the future.

Georgia can join the European energy system through the submarine power line in the Black Sea. It is expected to implement line linking of Georgia with Bulgaria and Romania. More than $ 3 billion will be spent on construction. In this case, Georgia will be connected to the European energy grid, that means Azerbaijan will also be able to supply electricity to Europe.

Bilateral diplomatic relations between Baku and Tbilisi are manifested in the various fields particularly trade, transport and energy since 1992.

The two countries broadly cooperate in regional energy development, transportation and economic partnership projects such as Southern Gas Corridor, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway (BTK), the TRACECA, and the BSEC.

SOCAR also is deeply involved in the energy market in Georgia which was established in 2006. The company's activity includes retail and bulk selling of fuel in Georgia, importing of petroleum and liquid gas, construction of oil terminals and warehouses. At present, there are over 70 filling stations operating in the country.

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