BGEO subsidiary begins construction of Bodorna hydro power plant

BGEO Group announced on Friday that its utility and energy subsidiary, Georgia Global Utilities, has begun construction of Bodorna hydro power plant near Bodorna reservoir.

The FTSE 250 company said the reservoir was an “integral part” of its water utility infrastructure, located 55 kilometers away from Tbilisi.

It said he 2.5MW plant will have an average annual electricity production capacity of 15 million KW hours, and will be primarily used for GGU's internal consumption, with the excess energy supply sold to third parties.

Bodorna HPP construction would be carried out by local companies, and would be supervised by Swiss engineering company Stucky SA.

BGEO said GGU had secured long-term credit facilities totaling a combined GEL 10m, from the Dutch (FMO) and German (DEG) development banks, to finance the construction of Bodorna HPP, which was expected to become fully operational from September 2018.

“I am pleased to see that GGU has launched the construction of yet another hydro power plant and continues to successfully pursue opportunities by tapping the existing infrastructure of its water utility subsidiary,” said BGEO CEO Irakli Gilauri.

“GGU is committed to investing in Georgia's renewable energy resources and this project is another step in the execution of GGU's strategy to produce a pipeline of high quality hydro power plant developments over the medium-term.”