Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA)
Georgia Energy Development
The Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment Report (SESA) of the Georgian Energy Sector was elaborated through cooperation and consultations of the World Bank with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (MoESD) and the Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE).
During the development of the report, Georgian energy sector was assessed, and four possible development scenarios were devised, which ultimately serve the improvement of analysis and forecasting withing the energy sector of Georgia. The report presents recommendations, based on the assessment of actual conditions and the possible scenarios.
The report encompasses the following four main scenarios:
- The first scenario fully follows the “Ten Year Network Development Plan” (TYNDP) of GSE.
- The second scenario excludes the construction of large storage Hydropower Plants (HPPs) and considers development of small run-of-river hydropower plants (ROR), Solar and Wind powerplants.
- The third scenario considers the development of large regulated and pumped-storage hydropower plants (PSP), which, given the increased flexibility of the system, enables the highest degree of integration of renewable energy sources.
- The fourth scenario is elaborated in full compliance with the main scenario of the “National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan” of Georgia (NECP).
It should be noted that in comparison with the NECP, which delineates the vision and development perspectives of the energy sector as whole in a single action plan and defines the policy to be implemented by all respective directions, SESA covers the development scenarios of the electricity power sector only, and presents recommendations based on their analysis.
SESA does not represent a policy defining strategic document and it does not determine specific projects, or activities/measures.
Furthermore, despite the provisions given the report, it does not represent a strategic environmental impact assessment of the Georgian power sector, nor an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for individual projects. The main goal of SESA is to, additionally, provide recommendations and assistance in Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment procedures, by presenting relevant structure and information.
However, during the elaboration of the report, with the engagement of international environmental experts and with the consideration of international practice and experience, the conditions regarding the protection of environmental and human impact set forth in the Georgian “Environmental Assessment Code” (EAC) have been taken into account, therefore, the recommendations provided in the report are in compliance with the national environmental legislation of Georgia.
The report presents assessments of the four main scenarios of the renewable energy source utilization in Georgia, as well as the impact assessment of renewable energy sources on the environment, health, air quality and cultural heritage.
The report does not cover specific projects and/or their impact on specific regions. The document is of a recommendatory nature, and it specifies that a more precise impact assessment depends on a specific project and should be defined at a respective EIA stage. It is also noteworthy, that the impact might vary between projects and among affected areas, therefore, the report considers a general assessment in accordance with the EAC of Georgia and international environmental standards.
