Georgia is reducing dependence on imported energy by increasing domestic electricity production thanks to the Shuakhevi hydropower plant project which is being developed in Adjara region.
The Shuakhevi HPP will generate 450 gigawatt (GW) hours of clean energy annually  while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes per year, announces Adjaristsqali Georgia.
The project will be put into operation in the first quarter of 2020, while the 187 MW Shuakhevi hydropower plant has already started production of electricity this spring. Soon the 9 MW Skhalta hydropower plant, which is also part of the Shuakhevi project, will also start operation. 
Adjaristsqali Georgia, the company developing the Shuakhevi hydropower plant project on the river of Adjaristsqali, says that Shuakhevi HPP is the largest and most influential energy project in the last 70 years in Georgia.
Together with other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power stations, Shuakhevi HPP is poised to become Georgia’s main energy link to achieve energy independence", read the project description of the Shuakhevi HPP published by Adjaristsqali Georgia.
The development of the Shuakhevi project started in 2013. 
The project involves the construction and operation of a 187 MW hydropower scheme, consisting of two HPPs: the 178 MW Shuakhevi HPP and 9.8 MW Skhalta HPP with respective dams and reservoirs on the Adjaristsqali and Skhalta Rivers and one five-meter weir on the Chirukhistskali River.
The Shuakhevi project is a part of the Georgian strategy to develop its hydropower potential. The generated electricity will be primarily sold in Georgia, and in this way enables the country to reduce dependency on imported energy.