Georgian power market launch due in July despite delays

The launch of a day-ahead power market in Georgia is still on track to take place in July, despite delays to the unbundling of transmission system operator (TSO), EU-led regional regulator body Energy Community (EC) said.

The day-ahead and balancing platforms are due to be launched on 1 July, with the unbundling of TSO and distribution system operator (DSO) also pushed back to the same date, the EC told Argus. The unbundling had been expected to be finalised by the end of last year, following a plan submitted by Georgian energy regulator Gnerc to the government and the adoption of a new energy law. Day-ahead and balancing markets will be complemented by an intra-day platform, which is due to be launched on 1 July 2022.

Georgia's ministry of economy last week held a workshop with Gnerc, grid operator GSE and domestic energy exchange Genex to review the balancing and ancillary services market and cross-border trade.

Genex is expected to submit a plan to Gnerc by 1 March on limits for price and quantity with regards to buy and sell orders, as well as the procedure for selecting a market maker for the day-ahead platform.

Dry runs for the day-ahead market were launched in July last year and a new test round is due to be held in March. A total of 73 companies and individuals applied to take part in dry runs by the end of last year, Genex data show.

The launch of a day-ahead market could improve allocation of cross-border capacity on the Turkey-Georgia border. A 700MW interconnection links Turkey to Georgia, whose electricity system operates in a parallel, asynchronous mode with Turkey. Capacity on the border is not distributed through a centralised auction platform or a bilateral mechanism co-operated by grid operators, unlike on Turkey's borders with Bulgaria and Greece.

Georgia last year exported 172.7GWh to Turkey, up from 168.1GWh a year earlier. Imports on the border rose to 223.3GWh from just 27.9GWh in 2019.

By Bilal Muftuoglu