MILAN, Italy, May 6. Georgia will soon start geotechnical studies for the Black Sea Cable Project, which will supply green energy from Azerbaijan to Europe, Ekaterine Guntsadze, Deputy Minister of Finance, Georgia, said, addressing the seminar on Trans-Caspian Connectivity: Unlocking Transport and Energy Corridors held as part of the 58th Annual Meeting, Trend’s special correspondent reports from Milan.
“With the upcoming Black Sea submarine cable, the South Caucasus grid will be integrated to the European grid. The submarine cable in the Black Sea started a couple of years ago as an idea. It was a little bit wild when first heard. But then with the Russian war in Ukraine and energy crisis in Europe, the project has become a very popular topic. The feasibility study was financed by a loan we got from the World Bank, and it is already there. We also borrowed from the World Bank for geotechnical studies to study the seabed of the Black Sea, and that work will start very soon from now,” she said.
Guntsadze pointed out that energy security and energy independence has been a priority for Georgia for a long time.
“We learned our lesson many years ago that it's important to
diversify energy suppliers.
At this point, almost 80% of our energy generation is green hydro
generation, and there is plenty of potential of using the hydro
generation as well as solar and wind generation in the pipeline,”
said the deputy minister.
She recalled that Georgia has signed a battery storage project with the ADB that will ensure the security of all the country’s transmission lines in case of any urgencies.