Georgia: Small Hydro Rehabilitation Project
(Community Development Carbon Fund)
Project Description
The objective of the project is to reduce Georgia’s dependence on fossil fuel-generated electricity by increasing power from hydropower stations. The project will rehabilitate nine small run-of-river hydro plants, generating an additional total capacity of more than 13.2 MW and consequently displacing fossil fuel-based thermal production from the Georgian grid. The overall GHG reductions during the seven-year crediting period is estimated at an average of 25,460 tCO2e per year, or 178,220 tCO2e over seven years. The U.S. Agency for International Development, under its Rural Energy Program, has identified 24 small hydropower stations for rehabilitation. Out of these 24, a total of 9 hydropower stations have been selected for the first round of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation was expected to begin in mid-2007 and the plants are likely to commence operation in 2008.
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Country Context
Georgia meets its demand for electricity mostly by importing primary energy resources. It consumes about 8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, 30 percent of which comes from domestic thermal power using imported gas. Fifty large and small hydropower stations exist in the country, but due to the lack of maintenance and underinvestment a substantial number of the small power stations are either not operational or operate below capacity. If operating at the designed capacity, a small hydropower plant could replace 33 percent of the imported electricity. Kakhareti Village in Lilovani community was selected as the beneficiary of the community benefits plan. This village was categorized as one of the poorest and most geographically isolated communities in Georgia. It is located in highland area (1,200m above sea level), with an average daily income of less than a dollar. The main socioeconomic activities in the village are basic subsistence agricultural activities and livestock farming.
Community Benefits
A community benefits plan additional to the main project was prepared at the initiative of the CDCF. The Energy Efficiency Centre Georgia conducted a community consultation study throughout the project sites in order to identify the poorest community that would benefit from the project. The majority of people living in Kakhareti village have limited or no access to social services.
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Deliverables
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Description
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Rehabilitation of three small bridges
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The community benefits plan targets the entire village. Currently, the poor conditions of the existing wooden bridges are inhibiting major mobility among the villagers, either preventing or increasing people’s travel time to reach transport and other social services, such as health and education. Furthermore, the poor condition of the bridges has made them difficult to use safely and created insecurity for the young population, especially during the winter and on dark days.
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Construction of potable water supply
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The Kakhareti Primary school also has no access to a water supply. The plan will install water pipelines and provide drinking water to the village’s primary and secondary school. All households (approximately 45) without access to potable water will also be connected to the system.
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Construction of Social Center
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A social and cultural center will be constructed for the entire village.
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Time Frame: by 2016
Community Benefits Budget: $114,000
Monitoring Plan: The Energy Efficiency Center will implement and monitor the project activities based on the community benefits plan. An independent evaluator will be employed to supervise civil works, and an expert of water supply systems will provide capacity building of beneficiaries. A third Independent verifier will also provide a progress report on the implementation of the community benefits plan.
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