Zemo-Avchaly Hydroelectric Power Plant

(ZAGES; full name, V. I. Lenin Zemo-Avchaly Hydroelectric Power Plant), the first hydroelectric power plant in the Georgian SSR.

The power plant is located on the Kura River at its confluence with the Aragvi River near the city of Mtskheta. Construction was begun in 1923, and the first stage was put into operation in 1927; the plant reached full capacity in 1938. The plant has an installed capacity of 36.8 megawatts and an average annual output of 203 gigawatt-hours (203 million kilowatt-hours). The hydrosystem includes a concrete head dam 34 m high, a water intake, a diversion channel 3 km long along the left bank, a distributing basin, and a hydroelectric power plant building. The dam forms a short-term storage reservoir. Automation of the power plant was completed in 1952. The electric power is fed into the United Power System of the Transcaucasus. The ZAGES has played a major role in the electrification of the Georgian SSR and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1947. One of the first monuments to V. I. Lenin (by the sculptor I. D. Shadr) was erected here in 1927.