Part I

Draft Black Sea Regional Transmission Project ESIA
2.0 THE PROPOSED PROJECT LINE AND ALTERNATIVES
This chapter describes the proposed transmission line and several alternatives. The action
alternatives include the regional project as described in Chapter 1 and also modified corridor
routes to reduce impacts on protected areas. The alternatives considered include three
action alternatives and the no action alternative:
Alternative 1: completion of the 500kV line as proposed in the late 1980s and partly
constructed through 1991, plus a new substation at Akhaltsikhe and a new 400kV
line to the Turkish border. Construction would begin in 2010 and last through 2012.
Alternative 2: the same as Alternative 1 except a modified route near Ktsia-
Tabatskuri Managed Reserve and through Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.
Alternative 3: the same as Alternative 2 except a modified route that does not cross
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.
Alternative 4: No action. This alternative would involve not completing the line but
instead leaving the foundations and towers as they are, and not completing the Black
Sea Regional Transmission Project described in Chapter 1.
2.1 Alternative 1: Black Sea Regional Transmission Project
This alternative includes the following key elements as shown on Figure 1-1 in Chapter 1:
Rehabilitation and/or construction of approximately 260 kilometers of 500kV
transmission line connecting the existing 500kV substations at Zestaphoni and
Gardabani.
Construction of a new 500/400 kV and 400 kV substation at Akhaltsikhe.
Approximately 30 kilometers of 400 kV transmission line from the new substation
at Akhaltsikhe to the Turkish border (to be connected to the Borchka substation in
Turkey at a later date).
Expansion of the substations at Zestaphoni and Gardabani to accommodate the
new 500kV circuit.
Work on strengthening the transmission network in the Caucasus began in the 1980s. The
proposed 500 kV line that is the subject of this ESIA was originally designed as part of a
larger plan to connect the electricity systems of Russia and all three Trans-Caucasian
Republics, and to improve reliability of the Georgian power system. Construction of the
section from Gardabani to Zestaphoni started in 1989 and continued until 1991. However,
after 1992 further construction became impossible due to political events in Georgia, and
sections of the line whose foundations and towers had been constructed were left
unenergized and unprotected. The project that was partly constructed at that time is now
proposed to be completed and extended. The proposed project would extend Georgia’s
main 500kV system by adding two new 500kV links from Gardabani and Zestaphoni to
a new substation near Akhaltsikhe. The new Akhaltsikhe substation will be connected to
the Turkish grid at Borchka using a 400kV overhead line. The 400kV line from the Georgian
border to Borchka in Turkey has not yet been designed or constructed. A companion project
to facilitate the transit element is the completion of a new 500kV connection between
Georgia and Azerbaijan, which is also to be completed at a later date.
Before construction was ended in 1991, a total of 554 foundations and towers were
constructed over the 283-kilometer corridor. Table 2-1 shows the status of the existing
towers. Of these, slightly over half will need rehabilitation of some sort, ranging from
complete replacement to repairs to existing tower components. The proposed project will
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