Giorgi Margebadze, head of the Small and Medium Hydropower Plants Association, stated that Georgia could unlock up to €6 billion in annual revenue from electricity exports to Europe if the planned Black Sea submarine power cable linking Georgia to Romania is completed. Speaking on BMGTV, he said the project could transform Georgia into a major regional energy exporter.
Margebadze mentioned that Georgia’s combined renewable energy potential, hydropower, wind and solar, amounts to an estimated 50 billion kilowatt-hours per year. This scale, he argued, makes large-volume electricity exports to European markets a realistic long-term prospect rather than a theoretical ambition.
However, he identified outdated energy infrastructure as the country’s most serious constraint. While engagement with local communities around energy projects has improved in recent years, the transmission grid has not kept pace with development needs. Many regional substations lack the capacity to absorb additional generation, and existing transmission lines are often unable to carry new volumes of power.
As a result, even projects that are technically ready, those with secured financing, completed feasibility studies, and construction plans, are frequently delayed or halted. “The grid is old and overloaded. This has become the main bottleneck in almost every region and village,” Margebadze said.
Recent energy data shows the urgency of infrastructure upgrades. In December 2025 alone, Georgia imported about 300 million kilowatt-hours of electricity from neighboring countries. Total electricity generation in 2025 fell to 13.8 billion kWh, the lowest level since 2021 and a 3% decline year-on-year, while consumption rose to 14.8 billion kWh.
As Margebadze stated, without large-scale investment in grid modernization, Georgia risks remaining dependent on imports despite its vast renewable resources and the strategic opportunity presented by the Black Sea cable project.
