Technical and Economic Parameters for the Potential 91 HPP Sites in Georgia

In September 2009 the Rural Energy Program complated study of technical and economic parameters for the potential 91 HPP sites in Georgia and launched the web based searchable database.

Initially the Program, with assistance from Georgian company Gross Energy, prepared two-page fact sheets for sites chosen by the Ministry. In late 2008 the Ministry requested to collect and systematize available hydrology data and all other publicly available information for the advertised HPP sites, and to develop a complementary searchable database for potential investors.

In response to this work, the Ministry requested similar data be developed for sites where data was not readily available. Thus Gross Energy was asked to dig even deeper to add to this data inventory. The company then identified and collected additional feasibility studies done by state and private parties in the past, extrapolated hydrology data from weather records where coverage was scant, and checked all data to the highest possible confidence level. Building this database was a large and daunting task, but by mid-September 2009, The Rural Energy Program has delivered a web-based searchable database, where potential investors can input their desired project characteristics, and the website provides them with: expected generation capacities, site maps, available feasibility study results, distances to interconnection sites, maps and aerial photos of the sites, down to the potential for the generation of carbon offset credits to help with the financing of the selected projects for all 91 indentified locations.