Georgia, Tbilisi, Feb 20/ Trend N. Kirtzkhalia
Georgia can move from being an electricity exporter to an importer, First Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister Maryam Valishvili told the press on Monday.
If the country does not begin building high power hydropower plants (HPPs), then in 2015 Georgia can become an electricity exporter, she added.
The demand for electricity is growing in Georgia from year to year, Valishvili said.
Those small HPPs that have commenced or will commence in the future will not be able to meet the future domestic demand. There will be a deficit, which Georgia will have to fill from neighboring countries.
The electricity consumption has increased in the country by 1 billion kilowatt-hours in recent years. Demand growth is linked to increased living standards, she added.
The growing demand is also conditional on the fact that electricity is cheap in Georgia.
Georgia has exported electricity to neighboring countries since 2007.
Seventeen HPPs will be built in Georgia from 2012 to 2017.