Within the framework of the German-Georgian project (DAMAST), an international conference was held at TSU with the participation of leading scientists from Tbilisi State University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Georgian Technical University (GTU) in the fields of geosciences and hydraulic engineering.

The conference on “Monitoring for Enhanced High Dam Lifetime” brought together Georgian and foreign specialists studying the Enguri High Dam and its surroundings using modern monitoring technologies. They discussed the research activities carried out during the DAMAST projects as well as the future goals set to ensure the long-term functioning of the dams as a safe national energy source and to promote the energy transformation in the Caucasus. Currently, studies have shown that under the existing conditions, the operating life of the Enguri HPP will expire in 28-32 years. As a result, Georgia will lose 40% of its electricity. Global warming and climate change are not taken into account in these calculations.

The event was attended by the Deputy Rector of TSU, Kakhaber Cheishvili, representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation, the German Embassy in Georgia, BMBF-Projektträger in Tbilisi, as well as professors, students, and field experts.

Deputy Rector Kakhaber Cheishvili expressed his gratitude to the scientists and students of the TSU Institute of Geophysics and the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, who are actively involved in the Georgian-German project. “Our students actively participated in the field work. They had the opportunity to gain good experience in practical work together with German and Georgian scientists. In addition, the data and knowledge accumulated during the project enabled the young people to submit individual scientific projects to the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation. Joint publications were prepared for an international peer-reviewed journal. This is how the future generation of dam safety specialists in Georgia can be nurtured,” said Kakhaber Cheishvili.

The participants of the conference focused on the recent geoscientific and technical work carried out in the Western Caucasus within the framework of the DAMAST and DAMAST-Transfer projects (2019-2024), which were funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The DAMAST project aims to contribute to the systematic reduction of risks associated with reservoirs and their long-term and efficient operation, e.g. by developing monitoring concepts that can be applied in similar regions.

The project used innovative monitoring systems: in particular, seismological, meteorological, hydrological and geodetic monitoring was carried out, detailed geological data were collected, and changes in lake sedimentation and dam structure were measured and characterized.

According to the DAAD-STG project, students and young scientists from TSU and GTU enjoy exchange programs for earth science (2022-2025). The main goal of this project is to develop those fields and directions that are important not only for the safe operation of HPPs, but also for safe construction in general, and some of which are not available or are poorly developed in our country; as well as to use new technologies and data analysis introduced within the framework of the previous two projects. For this purpose, TSU and GTU students, masters, doctoral students and young scientists will travel to the Karlsruhe University of Technology for the next four years to conduct scientific research. In addition, young researchers will participate in field work. Georgian and German scientists will provide training for them in various fields of earth science.

During the implementation of the project, the German side donated tools to Tbilisi State University: seismographs; four operational seismic stations with posthole seismometers - Trillium Compact Posthole 20s [TC20PH2] seismometer; permanent GNNS stations - GNSS receiver Leica GM30 + GNSS antenna Leica AS; fiber optic cable 2000 m, which was installed on the left bank of Enguri HPP; acoustic televiewer logging tool.

After the conference, the participants will visit Enguri High Dam.