Davitashvili: Project of laying cable along bottom of Black Sea to be discussed in Brussels

The implementation of the project for laying the Black Sea undersea cable to supply electricity to Europe, along with other issues, will be discussed at a meeting of the Georgia-EU Association Council in Brussels, first deputy prime minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili told journalists, Report informs.

He noted that the Georgian government is working on the project together with Romanian colleagues.

“To connect Georgia and Romania, this will be an alternative, reliable channel to accelerate the formation of a digital hub in Georgia,” he said, noting that the technical feasibility of the project has already been determined and actually confirmed.

“We are already talking about the technical details of implementation, including raising funds and so on,” Davitashvili said.

An agreement on laying a cable through which electricity from Azerbaijan and Georgia will go to Europe was signed in December 2022. The document was signed between the governments of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania and Hungary. The project aims to strengthen energy security in Europe and the South Caucasus, as well as develop the renewable energy sector and increase transit opportunities.

To implement the project, the EU intends to allocate 2.3 billion euros. The World Bank promised to allocate additional $75 million to Georgia for a detailed study of the bottom of the Black Sea.

If the project is implemented, a cable with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and a length of 1,195 km (1,100 km of submarine and 95 km of land cable) will connect Georgia with the Eastern Balkans and expand export opportunities between the South Caucasus and European countries.