Black Sea Transmission Network

The Black Sea Transmission Network is a project for electric power transmission from Georgia to Turkey.

Technical description
The project foresees a rehabilitation and expansion of the existing transmission system. An overhead transmission line with a total length of 247 km will be built from the existing Gardabani and Zestafoni substations to the new Akhaltsikhe substation situated at 41.70722°N, 43.10972°W. The line between Gardabani and Akhaltsikhe will be 187 km, of which 86 km is a rehabilitation of the existing line and 101 km will be a new line. The line between Zestafoni and Akhaltsikhe is 59 km long, of which 35 km is a rehabilitation of the existing line and 24 km will be a new line. The 500 kV overhead line will be a single-circuit transmission line.

At Akhaltsikhe substation two back-to-back high-voltage direct current stations, each with a capacity of 350 MW will be installed. A 400 kV AC overhead line will connect it with Borçka substation in Turkey. About 35 km of it will run in the territory of Georgia. The first HVDC back-to-back station would be operational in May 2012 and the second one in May 2013. This link will be built by Siemens.

Financing
The project is financed by several European finance institutions. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development lend €80 million both while the German development bank KfW provides €100 million in the form of a grant (€25 million) and a long-term loan (€75 million, €20 million Development Bank of Austria, Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank (OeEB) risk participation). The project is developed by the Georgian state-owned transmission system operator Energotrans.