In 2020 Abkhazia consumed as much electricity as Tbilisi
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, January 28
Electricity consumption in occupied Abkhazia is growing at a high rate. By 2020, the region consumed about as much electricity as Tbilisi, which has a population of 1.1 million.
According to ESCO data, in 2020, the total output of the Enguri and Vardnili hydropower plants was 3326.8 million kWh. According to the balance sheet of electricity, free electricity received by Abkhazia from Georgia increased by 24% in 2020 and amounted to 2.55 billion kilowatt hours ( 76.7% of the total electricity generated). For comparison, the volume of electricity received by Tbilisi's energy distributor, Telasi, was 2.63 billion kilowatt hours. The market value of electricity supplied to Abkhazia is about $ 89 million (3.5 cents per kilowatt).
In 2007-2020, 23914,408 million kWh of electricity was supplied to de facto Abkhazia, or 42.72% of the electricity generated by the Enguri and Vardnili hydropower plants.
The increase in electricity consumption in Abkhazia is related to the extraction of cryptocurrencies in the region. The government has banned the introduction of blocks for cryptocurrency mining in the area, but is unable to monitor the ban.
Abkhazia is supplied with electricity generated by the Enguri HPP from Georgia. In January 2021, the station was stopped for renovation works, during which time Abkhazia will receive power from Russia before the station resumes production; however, not free of charge.
As for the total data, in 2020 electricity consumption in Georgia decreased by 4.8% and amounted to 12.17 billion kilowatt hours. The decline in consumption is due to the economic crisis in the country.
The electricity tariff in de facto Abkhazia has remained unchanged for years and amounts to 0.4 Russian rubles (40 tetris) per 1 kWh. According to reports, the facilities of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation pay 0.95 rubles for 1 kWh of electricity.
