“At least we have a lot of water – why should I pay for it?” One can frequently hear this phrase in Georgia. This popular saying is based on the relative abundance of water resources the country has: roughly 15,597 cubic meters of renewable freshwater resources per capita a year, well above the 2,961 cubic meters per capita in the European Union (World Bank 2014). However, having a resource does not mean being able to use it, nor being able to do so in a sustainable manner.

In 2018, Georgian power plants generated 12 154 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 5% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation was 11 531 mln. kWh) (Figure 1). The increase in generation on a yearly basis comes from increase in hydropower (9%), more than offsetting the decrease in thermal (-5%) and wind power generation (-4%).

In December 2018, Georgian power plants generated 986 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 9% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation in December was 1080 mln. kWh. The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from decrease in thermal power (-30%), more than offsetting the increase in hydro (+3%) and wind power generation (+11%).

In November 2018, Georgian power plants generated 900 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 7% decrease in total generati on, compared to the previous year (in 2017, total generation in November was 968 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from decrease in hydropower (-15%), more than offsetting the increase in thermal power generation (9%) and in WPP generation (+33%).

On Monday, November 12, the ISET Policy Institute hosted a workshop entitled “Economic Instruments for Water Resource Management”. The Energy and Environment Policy Research Center at the ISET Policy Institute (EEPRC) presented its policy paper on the topic in front of several institutional stakeholders and interested citizens.