Energy
Georgia Budgets GEL 25M for Black Sea Cable Eyeing EUR 6B Exports
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Georgia has allocated GEL 25 million in its 2026 national budget for geological survey work on the Black Sea Submarine Cable Project, the high-voltage link intended to connect the Georgian electricity system directly to the European grid via Romania.
The project specification is a 1,155 kilometre high-voltage direct current line running under the Black Sea at 500 kV, with transfer capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 MW. That is a substantial interconnector by European standards and would make Georgia an electricity exporter into a market that prices power well above regional levels.
The revenue case is what drives political attention. Studies cited by Georgia Today put potential annual revenue from electricity exports to Europe at up to EUR 6 billion once the cable is operational. That figure assumes Georgia can actually generate the surplus to fill the line, which is the harder half of the equation. The country's combined hydropower, wind and solar potential is estimated at around 50 billion kilowatt-hours a year, against current consumption far below that — but converting potential into commissioned capacity requires a build-out that has repeatedly slipped.
Institutional backing has firmed up. The project was added to the European Union's list of Projects of Mutual Interest in December 2025, a designation that unlocks access to EU financing instruments and signals that Brussels treats the link as part of its own energy security architecture. The World Bank approved a $35 million loan in May 2024 under its ESPIRE programme, which is structured in three phases with a potential total envelope of up to $500 million covering preparatory work, domestic transmission reinforcement and ultimately the cable itself. Project documentation is maintained by Georgian State Electrosystem.
Romania and Georgia signed a further memorandum advancing the project earlier this year, and preparatory work now depends on completing the marine geological surveys the 2026 allocation funds. Those surveys determine cable routing, which in turn determines cost — the single largest uncertainty in the project.
For investors, the interconnector reframes Georgian renewable generation assets. A hydropower or wind project built for a domestic market of limited size prices differently than one with a route to European offtake. Developers who have held Georgian pipeline projects without a clear buyer now have a reason to revisit them.
The caution is timing. GEL 25 million funds surveys, not construction, and a 1,155 kilometre HVDC line is a decade-scale undertaking. The EUR 6 billion figure belongs to the 2030s at the earliest.
