In April 2019, Georgian power plants generated 966 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 9% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2018, total generation in April was 1,064 mln. kWh). The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease in hydro and wind power generation (-21% and -27%), more than offsetting the increase in thermal power generation (+348%).

In February 2019, Georgian power plants generated 939 million kWh of electricity, which compared to the previous year represents a 0.5% increase in total generation. On the demand side, consumption amounted to 1,037 mln. kWh, a 2% decrease on an annual basis. Although the negative gap between generation and consumption decreased by 22% (from -126 to -98 mln. kWh), compared to the corresponding month of the previous year, it remained substantial.

In March 2019, Georgian power plants generated 974 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 2.2% decrease in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2018, total generation in March was 997 mln. kWh.) The decrease in generation on a yearly basis comes from the decrease in hydro power generation (-30%), more than offsetting the increase in thermal and wind power generation (+98% and +42%).

Winter has always been a problem for the Georgian electricity system. Even though Georgia has plenty of hydropower, during this season several HPPs — seasonal and small — either stop or substantially reduce electricity generation. In this season, a significant share of hydropower generation comes from two large-scale state-owned pumped-storage HPPs: Enguri and Vardnili. However, exactly when the generation-consumption gap is the largest, most of the electricity produced is used to satisfy the consumption of the Abkhazia region, which on a yearly basis consumes as much electricity as Tbilisi, something we have mentioned in one of our previous articles.

In February 2019, Georgian power plants generated 939 mln. kWh of electricity (Figure 1). This represents a 0.5% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in 2018, total generation in February was 934 mln. kWh). Increase in generation on a yearly basis comes from increase in thermal and wind power generation (+26% and +24%), more than offsetting the decrease in hydro power generation (-14%).