TBILISI, GEORGIA – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $48 million loan for a regional power transmission project in Georgia that will build and upgrade power substations to boost Georgia’s ability to export electricity and support growing regional trade in power in the Caucasus.

The concessional loan, from ADB’s Asian Development Fund, will rehabilitate several substations by installing modern digital control and relay protection systems designed to improve energy management and power dispatch. This is ADB’s first loan to Georgia in the power sector.

“The project will strengthen the country's energy backbone, which is essential to boost incentives for inward investment in hydropower for export.  Such large investments will, in turn, bolster economic growth,” said Rune Stroem, Director of the Energy Division of ADB’s Central and West Asia Department. “The project benefits the broader population by improving access to reliable sources of power across Georgia.”

In addition, a new 220 kilo-volt substation at Khorga will be constructed. The new facility will increase transmission capacity by 400 megavolt-amperes (MVA), which will guarantee stable transmission of electricity from the Enguri Hydropower Plant to the industrial zone of Poti and on to Turkey via the  Batumi substation.