Georgia and Abkhazia experienced another large-scale power outage - the third in less than two weeks. According to preliminary data, a new failure occurred during tests at the Inguri hydroelectric station, which were supposed to help establish the causes of previous accidents.

Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Telavi, Borjomi, Zugdidi and other cities were left without electricity. In addition to electricity, water supply was temporarily stopped in the Georgian capital, and in some areas there were interruptions in mobile communications. According to local media, restoring power supply took from several hours to almost half a day.

The previous major accident occurred on July 25. Then the power supply began to be restored within a few minutes, and the consequences of the failure were completely eliminated in about two hours.

After the first large-scale outages, the director of the Inguri hydroelectric power station, Levan Mebonia, explained that the cause of the accident was the shutdown of the Imereti high-voltage line, through which a significant part of the power system load passes. As a result, he said, “the energy system completely collapsed.”

After this, the State Security Service of Georgia opened a criminal case under the article of sabotage.

The National Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (GNERC) later published the preliminary findings of the investigation. According to the regulator, the failure began after an unexpected disconnection of the Georgian and Azerbaijani energy systems, which usually operate synchronously.

“After the separation, the Georgian energy system went into an isolated operating mode, which led to a drop in frequency and voltage. These indicators reached such values ​​that caused cascading blackouts in the energy system - both power plants and consumers,” the commission explained.

GNERC said the investigation is ongoing. Experts are finding out the reasons for the severance of energy connections with Azerbaijan, and are also checking to what extent Georgia’s energy system is capable of operating autonomously in the event of such accidents.