Georgia, Tbilisi, Jan.27 / Trend N. Kirtskhalia /
The European Union has allocated five million euros as a grant to Georgia for the rehabilitation of the Inguri / Vardnil HPP. The grant agreement was signed on Thursday by the Georgian Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri and the EU representative Philip Dimitrov.
Khetaguri said that agreement envisages increasing safety of dam of the hydropower plant through the rehabilitation of cascade and full rehabilitation of the first and fifth units, as a result of which the electricity production at each unit will increase by 30 percent.
"We have been engaged in the rehabilitation of the Inguri hydropower plant for several years. Three of five units are already fully rehabilitated," Khetaguri noted.
He said that four million euros from the allocated amount will be spent on access roads and engineering work on derivational canal. The remaining one million is envisaged for monitoring the project, which, by agreement with the EU will be implemented by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
"This is a very important project. It will strengthen Georgia's energy security and ensure full electricity supply to the Abkhazian population," Dimitrov said.