Georgia’s State Security Service (SSSG) has launched an investigation into “sabotage” following two separate incidents of nationwide power outages on July 24 and July 25, as authorities have yet to provide an official explanation for what caused the major blackouts that also affected occupied Abkhazia.
The SSSG “has initiated an investigation under Article 318 of the Criminal Code of Georgia in connection with the repeated emergency disruptions to electricity supply throughout the whole country,” the SSSG said in a July 25 statement.
The article covers “obstruction of the normal functioning of state enterprises or other critical facilities, or their damage/destruction, with the intent of creating a threat to Georgia’s state interests,” the agency added.
The first nationwide blackout, affecting both Tbilisi and the regions, was reported shortly after midnight on July 24, at around 00:10. A second large-scale outage occurred on the morning of July 25, at around 8:00 a.m. Electricity supply was gradually restored following both incidents.
Power outages were also reported in occupied Abkhazia, where local de facto authorities attributed them in both cases to a “systemic failure” at the Enguri Hydroelectric Power Plant, Georgia’s main source of electricity, located on the boundary line between Tbilisi-controlled territory and the occupied region.
However, as of July 25, Georgian authorities have not publicly identified the cause of the repeated power outages or mentioned Enguri HPP in that regard. Georgia’s State Electrosystem (GSE), the country’s power transmission operator, has repeatedly said it is working to determine the causes.
Speaking on the phone with TV Pirveli channel, Enguri HPP Director Levan Mebonia attributed the blackout to the disconnection of the high-voltage “Imereti” transmission line connecting the HPP with the country’s western regions. Mebonia said the line outage disrupted the operating regime of the power system, causing the country’s electricity grid to collapse.
“The 500-kilovolt ‘Imereti’ line was disconnected. The line is not under my control.” Mebonia told TV Pirveli. “‘Imereti’ carries the main load – it connects Enguri [HPP] to the energy system as far as Zestaponi [a town in western Georgian Imereti region],” he added, saying, “When the line disconnected, the regime was disrupted, and the entire energy system collapsed.”
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