BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.7
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
A new important and promising project has been proposed to Georgia - the construction of a high-voltage cable transmission line along the bottom of the Black Sea, Trend reports via Georgian media.
A 1,200 km submarine cable will connect the electrical networks of Georgia and Europe. The World Bank (WB) has already agreed to fully finance the feasibility studies. Georgia has already prepared an initial feasibility study.
It is expected that the cable will be extended to Romania since this country has the corresponding infrastructure on the Black Sea coast. The cable will connect the electrical networks of Georgia and Romania.
According to existing technical studies, a 500-kilowatt network will have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. The cable project under the Black Sea is estimated at 2 billion euros. The joint project was registered in the European Energy Union by the Georgian Electro system and a Romanian company.
This initiative was recently discussed at a meeting of the EU Association Council, where special attention was paid to strengthening global energy security. As a result, the country will make a huge breakthrough in terms of energy independence and security.
This is an important project for the export of electricity generated in Georgia to the European Union market and for generating additional income for Georgia.
As an added benefit, this line will also include fiber optic cable to provide additional direct telecommunications/internet links in Southeast Europe and the South Caucasus / Central Asia.
After the implementation of the project, Georgia will become the Transcaucasian power grid hub. This project will ensure the economic independence of Georgia. The project was also approved by experts and analysts dealing with the development of energy in Georgia. In particular, the executive director of the Association for the Development of Renewable Energy Giorgi Abramishvili claims that this project will become one of the most important initiatives over the past decade.
According to him, the high-voltage transmission line on the bottom of the Black Sea will minimize Georgia's energy dependence on Russia.
"Another very important aspect is that in the near future we will effectively use the potential of renewable energy sources and export excess energy to foreign markets. In this case, Georgia will have a guaranteed export market to Europe. These expectations are based on the growing demand for green energy in Europe, and this is an irreversible process. This will be the best perspective for Georgia," said Abramishvili.
Professor David Mirtskhulava, Doctor of Technical Sciences and president of the National Association of Big Cascades also stressed the positive aspects of this project.
The new high-voltage transmission cable on the Black Sea bed will provide new opportunities for Georgia and the whole region. The EU energy market will be first interested in Georgia’s renewable energy potential, he said.
"This project will provide a new opportunity for the whole region, including for Georgia. Furthermore, I believe that this project can be also expanded to the East, namely to the Caspian Sea bed transmission line to involve Central Asia countries into the united grid. Namely, the new line will connect Azerbaijan with the energy system of Kazakhstan. Employment of hourly exchanges will be also very important", Mirtskhulava noted.
Today, the technology for arranging analogical high-voltage underwater networks has cheapened several times, he said.
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