Fire outbreak turns out to become reason behind major power failure in Georgia UPDATED

The Georgian State Electrosystem company has issued a statement announcing that the fire outbreak was the preliminary cause of the shutdown of the "Kavkasioni" power transmission line.

As a result of the accident on April 19 at 11:08 a.m., several regions and parts of Tbilisi were left without electricity. Water supply systems, the Tbilisi metro, and internet services were also disrupted. Power supply was restored shortly after the outage, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

"On April 19 at 11:08 a.m., the 500 kV ‘Kavkasioni’ power transmission line was shut down due to an emergency. Preliminary data suggests that the shutdown was caused by a fire outbreak. The disconnection of the power line disrupted the electrical parameters in the energy system, leading to shutdowns at the Enguri HPP and other large and small power plants," the statement reads.

The statement noted that due to the shutdown of generation facilities, about 90% of consumers across almost all regions of Georgia were left without electricity at 11:15 a.m.

According to the company, full power supply was restored within 35 minutes.

10:34

Azerbaijan responded promptly to a major power system accident in Georgia on April 19 by supplying up to 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity to its neighbour, ensuring stability in Georgia’s energy supply.

In a statement to Trend news agency on April 19, the press service of the Azerbaijani state energy operator Azerenerji confirmed that Georgia had officially requested support following the emergency, per Caliber.Az. 

Azerbaijan’s state energy operator swiftly reestablished parallel operations with the Georgian State Electrosystem company.

“In the first minutes after the accident, 380 to 400 MW of electricity was transmitted to Georgia,” said Teymur Abdullayev, head of Azerenerji’s press service.

By Khagan Isayev