The obsession of hydropower may have obscured other green energy options for Georgia. For one thing, investment in hydro is not happening as fast as could have been expected a few years ago. But, much more importantly, the bulk of hydropower would be in any case generated in the summer, when Georgia does not need as much of it. The surplus electricity is supposed to be exported to Turkey. But why destroy pristine landscapes and interfere with fragile ecosystems for the sake of exporting electricity to Turkey? Has anybody ever tried to answer the question...
ISET Economist Blog
A blog about economics in the South Caucasus.
Apr
27
Feb
08
For the first time since 2007 Georgia is a net electricity importer. Last year the total electricity generated declined by 4% and a 1.3% increase in total internal demand was observed. What should we expect from 2013?
The year started with a reduction of final electricity consumption tariffs by 3.5 tetris for those consuming less than 300 kWh of electricity. This change will definitely lead to a greater demand from households and businesses. How will Georgia meet this higher demand?
Attracting investments for new generation capacities?
As more than one y...
Jan
31
Can Georgia stimulate investment in electricity intensive sectors by providing cheap electricity? To answer this question one has to first analyse the behavior of the wholesale electricity market during the past 3 years.
According to the order of the Georgian Ministry of Energy on the “Electricity (Capacity) Market Rules”, a “Direct Customer” (or one who buys electricity wholesale) is someone who, for their own needs, consumes 7 million kWh of electricity per year (As this amount is approved with basic directions of the state policy in the Energy Sector)...
Dec
05
The possibility of lowering electricity and gas tariffs has become one of the top discussion topics across the country in the last few weeks. Little wonder of the interest in this topic at the time when gas and electricity bills reach their annual peak in account of the increased use of electricity and gas during the winter period.
Having thought for some time about the feasibility of reducing electricity and gas tariffs in the near future, one comes across three questions that need to be addressed before jumping to hasty and potentially regrettable deci...
Oct
19
Economics suggests that competition in a market brings more welfare to a country. Anti-monopoly agencies exist to create policies that limit market dominance and achieve competition. There are, of course, cases when natural monopolies emerge (for example, railways – where no one would build a parallel line to an existing one) and the solution to prevent monopolies in such instances is to regulate the businesses or take them into state ownership. It is, however, difficult, but not impossible, to find an instance when a market is competitive, but where no ...
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