EBRD finances power distribution in Georgia

US$ 25 million loan for Tbilisi electricity distribution network rehabilitation

The EBRD is supporting the rehabilitation and expansion of the electricity distribution network in Tbilisi with a US$ 25 million loan to Telasi, the private electricity distribution company which supplies the Tbilisi region.

The project is supported with US$ 250,000 in technical assistance from the EBRD Early Transition Countries Fund.

The loan to Telasi will finance the rehabilitation and expansion of the company’s medium and low voltage network and substations as well as the introduction of a new supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA), which will enable the company to conduct remote monitoring over the network. This will lead to improved reliability and better quality of electricity supply in Georgia.

Telasi is majority owned and controlled by Inter RAO UES JSC of the Russian Federation.

“This project further strengthens our relationship with InterRAO. After last year’s loan to the Electric Network of Armenia, this project with Telasi confirms the benefits of improving energy efficiency. Reduced losses and improved quality will benefit both the distribution company as well as the consumers, be it businesses or private households” said Nandita Parshad, the EBRD’s Director for Power and Energy.

Yuri Pimonov, Chief Executive Officer of Telasi, added: “This loan will help Telasi significantly to improve our operating and financial performance, and meet our investment obligations providing better services to the population”.

The EBRD places a very high priority on investments in sustainable energy, financing energy efficiency projects as well as investments in renewable energy in a drive to boost competitiveness of economies in the region and also to mitigate the impact of climate change. Around 20 per cent of the Bank’s annual investments are dedicated to sustainable energy projects.

As of October 2010, under its Sustainable Energy Initiative, started in 2006, the Bank has financed over ˆ4.7 billion in 269 projects yielding 27 million tonnes of CO2 reductions.

Since the beginning of its operations in Geogia, the EBRD has invested approximately ˆ1 billion in over 120 projects, with currently 70 per cent of the projects representing investments into the private sector.