After the completion of the first stage of construction work of the Nenskra Hydro Power Plant (HPP) in Svaneti, Georgia’s western mountainous region, construction of a village for HPP workers is to be launched soon.
The residential zone will have five buildings, including one, two and three-floor residential houses, one guesthouse, a warehouse and office buildings. The village will be able to house 110 workers at the same time.
According to the head of a Georgian state-owned shareholding company, the Partnership Fund (PF), David Saganelidze, at present 120 people are employed in the construction project. 80% of them are local residents.
“In spring 2017 the main phase of HPP construction works will start and more than 400 jobs will be created for locals,” he stated.
The Partnership Fund is building 280 megawatt HPP in collaboration with Korean K-Water Company, on the river Enguri in Svaneti Region.
The HPP is expected to annually produce 1.2 billion kilowatts of electricity per hour.
The Nenskra HPP construction will be based on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) structure, according to which the investor is obliged to build the HPP, operate it for 35 years then transfer ownership of the HPP to the state.
The construction phase of the HPP is expected to end by 2021. However the Nenskra HPP will start producing electricity from 2019.
Total investment value of Nenskra HPP is about $1 billion USD.
The construction work is being carried out by the tender-winning Italian company, Salini Impregilo. The company, together with the investor. has undertaken responsibility not to damage the region’s environment.
According to Saganelidze, all environmental issues will be considered during the construction process. He said that international organizations and foreign specialists are carrying out full monitoring of the process.
“This project will be successful, not only as a giant Hydro Power Plant but as an example of environmental protection,” Saganelidze underlined.
