Czech Energo-Pro acquires gas-turbine power plant in Georgia
TBILISI. Dec 20 (Interfax) - Czech Energo-Pro, which owns a number of electricity generation and distribution assets in Georgia, has acquired a 110-MW gas-turbine power plant located in Gardabani on the territory of TbilGRES.
"The gas-turbine electric station was transferred to G-Power, a company Energo-Pro set up specially for this acquisition," Energo-Pro's spokesman in Georgia, Avtandil Dvalishvili, told Interfax.
The details of the deal have not been disclosed.
The plant previously belonged to Energy Invest, which built the plant in 2006 when Georgia faced severe electricity shortages. The two 55-MW Pratt & Whitney turbines cost $90 million. The project was financed mainly with a loan from Russian VTB . The company had planned to switch the station to combined-cycle operation, which would have boosted capacity by 40 MW to 150 MW - and increased output to 1.2 billion kWh a year from 0.9 billion kWh. However, that project was never implemented.
Energo-Pro commenced operations in Georgia in the summer of 2007, following its victory in a tender on acquisition of the United Electricity Grid Company of Georgia and Ajaria Electricity Company, as well as six hydroelectric stations. Energo-Pro subsequently acquired four more hydropower plants. The company currently serves about 900,000 customers over a territory covering 70% of Georgia.
Energy Invest, is a major investment company in Georgia. Formed in 2004 as a VTB investment project, Energy Invest owns Rustavi Chemical Plant Azot and a host of other enterprises.
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