Georgia inaugurates 1st wind farm

Georgia's first wind farm, with a capacity of 20.7 MW, was inaugurated on Thursday by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Georgia's government.

The EBRD has arranged a USD-22-million (EUR 19.8m) loan to Qartli Windfarm LLC for the development, construction and operation of the wind farm. The debt package includes a USD-10-million A loan from the bank itself and a USD-12-million syndicated B loan provided by Dutch impact investors Oikocredit, Ecumenical Development Co-operative Society UA, Triodos Groenfonds NV and the Luxembourg-based Green for Growth Fund (GGF).

The wind farm, which the EBRD says is also the first in the Caucasus region, is located in the Gori municipality in central Georgia. A third of the power is expected to be sold to Turkey on a commercial basis. The bank hopes that the wind farm will serve as a model for other investments in the sector.

It also said it has facilitated technical assistance funds to help the Georgian government create an electricity trading platform, along with solar resource assessment and mapping.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.898)

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