Investor terminates Namakhvani HPP contract with government of Georgia

ENKA Renewables, which was supposed to build a large hydroelectric power plant in the village of Namakhvani in western Georgia, has announced that it terminated a contract with the government and has stopped all work on the hydroelectric plant.

The Turkish company ENKA İNŞAAT, the founder of Enka Renewables, announced the termination of the contract.

The statement says that the reason for the termination of the contract is the violation of the conditions stipulated in it and a force majeure.

The statement does not specify exactly which conditions were violated and what led to the termination of the contract.

“ENKA ŞNŞAAT declares that its subsidiary Enka Renewables has decided to terminate the construction contract with the state of Georgia for the development, construction, ownership and operation of the Namakhvan cascade project due to a long-term violation of the contract with Georgia dated April 25, 2019 and a force majeure situation”, the statement reads.

If the Namakhvanskaya HPP was built, it would have been the largest energy project in the country’s history since it’s independence. The project was to be implemented by Turkey’s largest construction company, ENKA, and its cost was $ 800 million.

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However, the construction of a giant hydroelectric power plant in Namakhvani has caused a mixed reaction in Georgia.

Environmentalists and local residents had many questions about the project. They feared that a large-scale hydropower plant would pose a threat to a small valley, as well as create a seismic threat, change the microclimate, which would damage unique grape varieties and wine production.

The government, which was the main lobbyist for the project, said these fears were exaggerated and that in a few years Georgia would face serious energy security challenges without building new hydroelectric power plants.

The protest of various public groups against the construction of the Namakhvani hydroelectric power station lasted for almost a year. For several months, tents were erected near Namakhvani, and activists tried to keep heavy equipment out of there. In the spring, the protests also moved to Tbilisi.