Turkey to transmit Georgian power to EU

AKHALTSIKHE, GEORGIA - Anadolu Agency

Energy Minister Yıldız answers journalists’ questions in Akhaltsikhe. AA photo

The Borçka-Akhaltsikhe electricity transmission line will be able to transmit 700 megawatt (mW) power from Georgia to the European Union through Turkey, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said, adding that the capacity would reach 1100 mW in advance.

“Power generated in Georgia will be available to European markets very soon,” Yıldız said during the inauguration ceremony of a power transmission line in Georgian province of Akhaltsikhe yesterday. The electricity transmission line between Turkey’s Black Sea province of Artvin’s Borçka district and Akhaltsikhe was built to transmit power from Georgia via Turkey to Europe.

Yıldız stated that this facility would also transmit Azerbaijani energy: “Georgia’s energy and also Azerbaijan’s energy will be able to be transmitted to the EU. Turkey is a reliable market. If power generation starts, 700 mW power can be transmitted to Turkey,” he said. The transmission capacity will increase to 1100 mW in the next stage, he noted.

Yıldız also said the transmitted power can also be supplied, recalling that Turkey’s energy bourse, EPİAŞ, would be established.

The minister noted that Turkey was not only a corridor in the framework of this project but it was also a consumer country. They expect that this project would raise supply that would reduce prices in favor of citizens.The Turkish Electricity Transmission Company (TEİAŞ) will be choosing a third party to assume the transmission component of the project by way of a tender process at a later date, he said.