8012. Advisory review: ESIA for Khudoni Hydropower Project in Georgia

The NCEA received a request from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Georgia to review the draft Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Khudoni Hydropower Project.

Advisory reports and other documents

Significant details

Process and activities

In 2009, the government of Georgia signed an MoU with Trans Electrica Georgia Ltd, which allows the latter to undertake a Khudoni Hydropower Project on a 'build, own and operate' (BOO) basis. An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was undertaken for the project, including a resettlement plan.

The Ministry of Environment of Georgia requested the NCEA to review this ESIA. It specifically asked the NCEA to base its review on international best practices for hydropower projects, EU legislation, and guidelines from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). A panel under the Environmental Ministry had already reviewed the draft ESIA from the perspective of Georgian legislation. The NCEA considered this review of good quality and decided not to focus on Georgian legislation in its own review.

Upon this request, the NCEA formed a working group that studied the ESIA and additional documentation and visited the project site. A Final draft review advice was finalized in May 2013, and discussed with a panel of Ministers and stakeholders. A Final review advice followed in June of the same year.

Results

The NCEA's main conclusion was that the Ministry of Environment could not yet take a decision on the project, since essential information was lacking in the ESIA. Several aspects were missing, most importantly on the following topics:

• Social issues related to compensation, resettlement and cultural heritage;
• Sediment load of the river and geo-hazards in relation to useful reservoir life;
• Seismic risk;
• Broader costs and benefits for Georgia.

The review advice gave recommendations for improvement of the ESIA.

Parties involved

Members of the working group

Chair: Rudy Rabbinge
Technical secretary: Arend Kolhoff

Further details

Country: Georgia

Last modified: 05 Apr 2019