At the round table held on September 26, 2023, a study on the onshore wind potential of Bulgaria was presented. The study is prepared by the “Center for the Study of Democracy” (Center for the Study of Democracy), jointly with the Austrian Institute of Technology.
The Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of BGWEA, Miglena Stoilova, answered the question “What are the bottlenecks for wind investments in our country?”:
❗ The potential for wind energy in the country, presented in the CSD study, is also confirmed by the strong investment interest in Bulgaria, with approximately 5000 MW of new wind power plants currently under development. 👇
👉 Bulgaria should tackle the administrative obstacles to boost the development of these capacities while taking the necessary legislative steps to facilitate the process of connecting new wind capacities.
💡 In order to overcome the problem of providing connection capacity, it is necessary for the TSO to commit to the binding statement at an early stage of the project, on the one hand, in order to have information about the planned investments early enough and to plan the development of the grid in this direction and on the other hand, to give certainty to the investors for the realization of the project.
💡 Bulgaria has both good wind and solar potential. Combined with the country’s hydropower potential, energy storage technologies, and cross-border trade, a large share of RES energy in Bulgaria’s consumption can be achieved. This, in turn, will guarantee security of supply as well as competitive electricity prices.
💡 Mechanisms such as contracts for difference (CfDs) and long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) proposed by the European Commission to ensure price predictability are mechanisms that are applicable in the conditions of a liberalized market. Bulgaria should direct its attention to the implementation of these mechanisms.
