Will Georgia go green after EU association agreement?
June 26, 2014
On Friday Georgia will sign an association agreement with the European Union, meaning that our country will start cooperating more closely with the EU and even implement more European legislation. This is good news, particularly when it comes to the environment.
Expert proposals for Energy Community improvements are a promising step forward
June 18, 2014
South and eastern European member countries of the Energy Community may soon have to be much more ambitious about environmental standards in the energy sector. This is because the Energy Community, the body that aims to create a common energy market between the EU and some of its neighbours, may be about to introduce more of the EU environmental acquis into its Treaty.
No public money for mega-gas pipeline projects – Projects of Common Interest for gas imports will be harmful
June 12, 2014
Projects aimed at increasing EU gas imports, included in the European Commission’s Projects of Common Interest (PCI) would surpass the five scenarios of the EC’s own Energy Roadmap 2050 which all foresee an overall decrease in gas imports. Additionally, they would support authoritarian regimes which repeatedly violate human rights and limit space for democratic expression.
Heavy on the process – EBRD review of governance policies may disappoint many
May 14, 2014
The EBRD’s board of directors is expected, on the eve of the bank’s annual meeting in Warsaw, to approve new ‘good governance’ policies that will have significant bearing on the institution’s future activities. The EBRD’s Environmental and Social Policy, its Public Information Policy and the Rules of Procedure for the EBRD Project Complaints Mechanism have been the feature of multi-stakeholder consultations across the EBRD’s regions of operation in 2013 and into 2014.
Stuck in the market? 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall: what now for the EBRD?
May 14, 2014
Harsh, embedded economic realities such as widespread, high unemployment across central and eastern Europe, as well as the discernible trend of democratic retrenchment in several EBRD recipient countries, are resulting in very mixed feelings about the transition process in this year of important anniversaries. This new analysis of how the EBRD conducts its financing and economic advisory activities finds serious deficiencies in the bank’s overall ‘market-oriented’ approach and catalogues a range of startling EBRD interventions.
Dariali hydropower plant project, Georgia
May 2, 2014
The Georgian company JSC Dariali Energy has requested a loan of up to USD 80 million from the EBRD for the 108 MW Dariali hydropower (HPP) project. The project involves the construction of a derivation-type HPP on the Tergi river in the municipality of Kazbegi. The project will divert water from the town of Stepatsminda towards the powerhouse close to the border with Russia, leaving eight kilometres of river without a sufficient amount of water.
The Shuakhevi hydropower plant project, Georgia
May 2, 2014
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has approved a loan of up to USD 86.5 million for Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL), a subsidiary of the Norwegian Clean Energy Invest for the construction of the 185 MW Shuakhevi hydropower plant (HPP). The project involves the construction of two dams and three diversion tunnels. Bankwatch member group Green Alternative has concerns about the possible negative impacts of the Shuakhevi HPP and the overall justification for the project, both explained in this briefing.
Environmental and social impacts of the Khudoni hydropower project in Georgia
March 31, 2014
The report summarises the findings from a fact-finding mission to villages in the Svaneti region of northwestern Georgia that will be impacted by the Khudoni hydropower project. During the visit 250 people were interviewed, of which around 160 were women.
‘Fools and liars’ – major new report slams mega-dams, as tensions rise over Georgia’s Khudoni project
March 20, 2014
A new report published on March 10 by a team of researchers from the University of Oxford, based on the largest ever study of large hydroelectric dams (245 in 65 countries) has found that in most cases large dams are economically not viable and few, if any, will realise their planned benefits. The study assessed the costs, construction time, and benefits of all large dams built around the world since 1934, and further concluded that the severe cost and construction delays that so often dog large dams (defined in this research as those that exceed 15 metres in height) mean they can be seriously damaging to the economies that attach so much hope to them.
Georgian Ministry of Energy orders use of force against local protesters who fear landslides from hydro construction
March 14, 2014
Last weekend, the Georgian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources again left no doubt about where its main interests lie: enforcing the massive exploitation of Georgia’s hydropower potential despite and against people’s concerns and if necessary by use of force.