The FINANCIAL — The Minister of Environment Protection speaks about renewable energy in Georgia
Use of renewable energy is regulated by demand for such products on the market, believes Goga Khachidze, Minister of the Ministry of Environment Protection of Georgia. The potential of its development also depends on the people who want to use it. The Minister says that Georgia is a carbon neutral country, as electricity is mainly supplied by hydroelectric stations.
“We have to agree that water energy is a renewable energy as well,” Khachidze told The FINANCIAL in an interview. “Somehow in Georgia when we talk about renewable energy people think of only wind or solar energy. Georgia is one of the best examples of how renewable energy can be used. 86% of the electricity we consume in Georgia is from hydroelectric power stations. It’s the best indices for our country to be named a carbon neutral country. We have very clean energy and we don’t need to adopt any new legislation for renewable energy.”
“Solar energy use is not very developed in Georgia,” the Minister says. “It’s mostly used as additional energy. Perhaps because we don’t have enough sunny days during the year. But it's important to know that solar energy use is totally free of charge compared to the electricity we receive from hydroelectric stations.
“The Government and the State can advise people that solar energy is useful and absolutely free of charge except for battery and installation purchase prices. The Government can’t take any legislation which obliges the population to absolutely transfer to and install solar batteries,” Minister Khachidze believes.
The Ministry of Environment Protection is among the few users of solar energy in Georgia.
“We have installed solar batteries on the roofs of administration buildings in the protected areas. We are actually already using them at guesthouses in Tusheti. Solar batteries can’t be used everywhere. In the western part of Turkey all the roofs are installed with solar batteries because there are so many sunny days there and in general really hot weather,” Khachidze said.
There is no official statistical data about the usage of solar energy in Georgia.
“As far as the Ministry is aware large solar batteries are getting installed at Ilia State University in the frame of an international project developed by the Japanese Government. I hope that the project will be successful and that they will start to consume this energy very soon.”
Wind Energy
“We have nearly the same situation with wind energy that we have with solar energy in Georgia,” said Khachidze. “There is a slight difference as we have more wind resource potential in the country. Very seldom, private persons, but not large companies, use small wind turbines. To install large wind turbines and make a wind electric power station requires a huge investment.”
The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources is in charge of wind energy development, but as I know there are several impediments to the improvement of wind energy. Investors demand guarantees for purchasing generated energy. They set the prices as well. If that energy were free for trade and the market could decide the consumption price then this energy could have more potential. These terms complicate the process of wind energy improvement as well.”
Hydro Power
“Several months ago we opened a small hydro electric power station in one of the villages of the Racha region. We tested it and checked the product as well. In a period of drought the energy the station produces isn’t enough for the whole village. Besides it isn’t easy to provide each family with this energy separately. So we offered to connect this station to the common net. But as this energy is free of charge, it will be accumulated and then subtracted from the whole amount.
Like this station there are some hydro electric power stations which are enough for only 2-3 families. There aren’t any strict laws, but we have some safety standards and norms which should be satisfied while constructing small energy stations in Georgia.”
Q. Two years ago the Ministry started the project Plant a Tree. Is this project still running? What are the current projects the Ministry is implementing to do with the planting of greenery?
A. Yes, the project was started the year before last by the initiative of the Ministry of Environment Protection of Georgia. The project was followed by similar projects from Tbilisi City Hall, like Plant a Tree, Make Tbilisi Green. The project was also very successful with the help of the appeal of the Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia. Even the first year was very successful; we planted almost half a million saplings in just one year.
The project isn’t under our control anymore, though there are still many ongoing activities with planting trees, not only in Tbilisi, but in Rustavi, Racha and many other regions of Georgia.
Q. What are the indices of air pollution in Georgia these days?
A. Nowadays in Tbilisi and in many other regions of the country air monitoring is done every day. I can’t say that Tbilisi is the cleanest city in the world, but the parameters of our air are far better than in other countries, which look cleaner on sight. This is the result of natural conditions. Of course we need to improve the control on emissions for example, but we have nothing to complain about at the moment in regards to air pollution.
Q. How can we reduce the number of cars in the city? Are there plans to build bike lanes in the city?
A. First of all we have to think about the terrain of the city. How realistically the terrain can be used in the building of bike lanes, in order for bicycles to become one of the means of transport in the city. We have slightly complicated terrain in Tbilisi. However I know that City Hall has a plan to build bike lanes in some recreation zones.
The fact that the number of the cars has increased is the accompanying process of urban development. I think that we have some good traffic regulations, like new traffic lights, etc. Besides City Hall launched a very good initiative – a new tramway system, which will help a lot in unloading traffic in the city.
Q. Last year the Ministry strengthened the legislation against littering. Has there been any improvement in regards to that issue?
A. Georgian legislation adopted some fines against littering in the city two years ago. Last year one law was added. The law envisages a fine against throwing waste from cars. The Ministry supplied 30 cars with controlling video cameras all over the country. We can’t say that these numbers are enough to control every car in Georgia, but it really was a very important step. You can see the results in the city. Tbilisi is much cleaner than it used to be several years ago.
Q. Which recently-discovered endangered species in the country are under threat of extinction? How is the Ministry battling the issue?
A. Some breeds of oak and willow have recently entered the Red List. What’s more we have found out that chestnut trees have a disease which is dangerous for its fruit and needs special treatment. To solve the issue we have some options, but they are not very desirable, these include completely cutting down the trees, stripping of the bark, complete burning of the forest, etc. Chestnuts in Georgia today are at real risk and we have to decide how to best solve this issue.
Q. What about the future plans of the Ministry?
A. We have some concrete short and long term plans. Some of them are usual routine works, like current accounts and monitoring. We are members of many international organizations. This membership is connected with many obligations. One of them is the Ramsar convention which envisages the protection of wetland territories.
As for the future plans, we are going to expand protected areas and even create some more new ones. The newest plan is finishing our internet website. This page will give the opportunity to Georgian people to get very precise weather forecasts. Furthermore we are going to improve and import the newest weather forecast technologies, to get even better results.
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