Statement on the Progress of the Bakhvi 1 Hydropower Plant Project

On April 29, 2022, the Bakhvi 1 Hydropower Plant project implementing company submitted an additional package of documentation to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia as a part of the EIA review of the Bakhvi 1 HPP project, a small hydropower plant planned on the river Bakhvitskali.

The documentation package developed by the Bakhvi 1 Hydropower Plant specialists, includes answers to all the questions raised by both NGOs and Ministry experts as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment review. The EIA document, which is about 600 pages, as well as a number of annexes to the documentation package, needed clarification in a number of cases.

The process of reviewing the EIA report, from its submission to the environmental decision making, includes a Q&A mode, affording each stakeholder the opportunity to openly voice a topic of interest to them and request and receive more information from the project implementing company. This is a practice established during the EIA review process; hence the Bakhvi 1 Hydropower Plant project is no exception. The company specialists again provided comprehensive information to the Ministry to ensure timely review of the provided information and issuance of an environmental decision.

The EIA document with relevant annexes was submitted by CCEH Hydro VI LLC to the Ministry for environmental decision-making on December 20, 2021, and the date of publication on the Ministry's website is December 23, 2022. In accordance with the legislation, four public hearings of the EIA were held on February 10 and 11, 2022, in Ozurgeti and Chokhatauri, as well as in the communities of Mtispiri and Chkhakaura.