Georgia, Tbilisi, Jan.28 / Trend N.Kirtskhalia /
Georgian Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze has announced the necessity to restore work at the Inguri Hydropower Plant and intends to negotiate this with the Abkhaz side.
"The Inguri HPP has five units with a total capacity of 1300 MW, four of which have already been reconstructed and modernised, and work is underway on the fifth unit," Kaladze said on Monday while visiting the Tsalenjikha district of Georgia, where Inguri HPP is located. A control panel is located in the Gali region.
Kaladze stressed that the ministry's plans include restoring other HPPs located in Abkhazia.
According to Kaladze, the work on renovating the Inguri HPP cascade to ensure its efficient operation will continue.
On Dec.30, 2008 Energy Ministry of Georgia and JSC INTER RAO UES signed a memorandum of understanding on the efficient operation of the Inguri HPP. Then it was supposed that the relevant agreement on the joint management of Inguri HPP will be signed. However, the project still remains unimplemented.
In October 2012, Kaladze, being a candidate for the post of energy minister in the new government of Georgia, said that the memorandum "should be reconsidered".
Nearly half of all electricity generated in Georgia accounts for the Inguri HPP. It was commissioned in 1978.