Nenskra hydro power plant

The Nenskra hydropower plant is a dam project of 280 MW in the country of Georgia. It is the most advanced of Georgia's massive plans for hydropower installations in the Upper Svaneti region. The project is located on the river Nenskra, up stream to another dam Khudoni.

The project is being implemented by a joint venture between the state-owned Partnership Fund and the Korean company K-Water.[1]

The construction started in mid 2015. The project is planned for completion by 2019, but receive high protests from local inhabitants that claim potential negative impacts have not been properly assessed.[2]

Composition and dimensions

The dam will be located on the upper Nenskra River and will be 135 m high and 820 m long. The reservoir will be about 182 million m3 and will be flowed directly by Nenskra River and indirectly by Nakra River via a transfer tunnel. This transfer tunnel will be over 12 km long and 4.5 m wide.[3]

Economics

The cost of the project is $1 billion. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed in May 2015 to provide US$200 million for the project.[4] Nenskra is also being financed by the Asian Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of Korea.

The tender for the construction of the plant worth $575 millions was won by Italian industrial group Salini Impregilo.[5]

Power generation and distribution

The dam will produce on average a total annual energy generation of 1 200 GWh and the power will be distributed through a 220 kV transmission line to Akhari-Jvari substation.[6]

Social impacts

Some 400 families live in close by villages (Chuberi and Nakra). The majority are Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgia’s Caucasus mountains with their own language, laws and traditions. For generations, they have lived in isolation and self-dependence and their livelihoods depend on forestry, grazing and subsistence agriculture.[7]

Geological hazards

Svaneti is a landslides and mud-flows sensitive area. The local cemetery and agricultural fields of the village of Nakra are regularly flooded by mud-flows.[8] Yet according to a review of the Nenskra Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), the geologic hazards and potential adverse impacts on locals have not been properly evaluated.[9]

Environmental impacts

« [From a] nature preservation point of view, not all of these larger [rivers] like Enguri and smaller rivers like Nenskra and Nakra should be used for hydropower generation. » Prof. Dr. Frank Schrader, International Consultant on Hydropower, in his review of the Nenskra ESIA.[9]

The dam construction will also include constructions of bypass and access roads, high voltage transmission lines and substations. These construction may increase landslides.[8]

Protests

Hundreds of people regularly protest against the project. Up to two hundred locals and environmental activists gathered in Chuberi in Upper Svaneti in July 2016 demanding that the construction project is halted until alternative projects has been found and the consequences have been properly assessed in close cooperation with the local community.[10]

Earlier, eight activists protested against the construction, blocking the access road to the construction site. They were arrested in May 2016 and released after being imposed financial penalties.[11]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.fund.ge/eng/view_news/241
  2. ↑ http://bankwatch.org/our-work/projects/nenskra-hydropower-plant-georgia
  3. ↑ http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2015/09/salini-impregilo-inks-us-575-million-epc-contract-for-georgian-280-mw-nenskra-hydroelectric-project.html
  4. ↑ http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2015/05/ebrd-announces-financing-for-georgia-s-280-mw-nenskra-hydropower-plant.html
  5. ↑ http://www.salini-impregilo.com/en/press/press-releases/salini-impregilo-signs-a-contract-for-the-realization-of-the-nenskra-hydroelectric-project-in-georgia.html
  6. ↑ "Nenskra Hydroelectric Project - Salini Impregilo". www.salini-impregilo.com. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  7. ↑ "GreenAlt - Nenskra Report" (PDF).
  8. 1 2 "Nenskra hydropower plant, Georgia | Bankwatch". www.bankwatch.org. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  9. 1 2 "Review of Nenskra ESIA" (PDF).
  10. ↑ "Protests resume against the Nenskra hydro power plant in Svaneti". 2016-07-06. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
  11. ↑ "Eight activists arrested in Nenskra power plant protests". 2016-05-26. Retrieved 2016-10-06.

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