Bidzina Kekelia, 52 Paliashvili Street, Apt. 10, Tbilisi, 0179, Georgia

George Ramishvili, Nino Shanidze, PA Government Services — Georgia (PA Consulting

Group), 44 Leselidze Street, Tbilisi, 0105, Georgia

This paper provides an overview of current state and future development prospects for solar energy technologies in Georgia. It gives a brief description of climatic and geographical location advantages/drawbacks of the country and provides the authors’ views on possibilities for various solar energy applications in the given area. It also gives an overview of currently used technologies and companies present on the Georgian market.

1. INTRODUCTION

Generally, in Georgia, renewable energy applications other than hydropower (which accounts for approximately 80-90% of Georgia’s current electricity generation) are not well developed and their contribution to energy generation of the country is negligible. Having abundant (mostly untapped) hydropower and solar energy resources, Georgia seemingly should not have a problem satisfying its electrical energy needs. But in reality this is not so. The causes are a variety of internal and external political and economic factors, as well as financial and institutional crisis Georgia is facing after break up of Soviet Union.