Some 3,000 saplings of Georgian oak (Quercus iberica) and maple (Acer) have been planted on one hectare of land in Svaneti, at three sections of the Lakhami HPP project area; in particular, at the upper intake structure, at the power house and at the place that has been selected in consultation with the local residents. The reforestation initiative has been designed and implemented by the HPP ESG Department. The reforestation of the selected area demonstrates the investor's goodwill and caring for nature.
The Lakhami HPP is one of the HPPs in the CCEH's portfolio, which is located in the village of Lakhami (Mestia municipality, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Region). It is a small run-of-the-river type HPP, with total installed capacity of 15.9 MW and annual power output of 87 million kW.
„As a part of our investment in Georgia, we, the CCEH team, do care, first and foremost, about people, nature and development of the region, in which we enter with the project. We strongly believe that the western investment is not a lump-sum expense, but it would rather bring appropriate education to the region, increased awareness and various small and large-scale environmental initiatives. This is an important day for us. Planting of saplings and further caring is a type of activity we are and will be engaged in with enthusiasm, along with my associates and invited guests," stated Mikheil Nibladze, CCEH Director.
The members of the Bakhvi 1 HPP Project Advisory Board on Environmental and Social Issues, who stayed in Lakhami as part of their two-day visit, also participated in the tree planting activity, along with the Lakhami HPP employees. After the tree planting activity was completed, the Advisory Board members explored the Lakhami HPP infrastructure and were briefed on the HPP's operational characteristics; they also had a chance to visit HPP's fishway. The ESG Department employees briefed them about the principles of fishway operation, as well as social projects implemented by the company with the highest type of social responsibility and in compliance with the standards set by the investor for each project.
The reforestation activity was preceded by the third meeting of the members of the Bakhvi 1 HPP Advisory Board on Environmental and Social Issues. During the meeting, the project team members briefed the Advisory Board members on the project survey progress, followed by a detailed Q&A session and all the questions of the Advisory Board members were comprehensively answered.