PV energy in Bulgaria

General

According to the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources the target for the share of energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption of energy in the year 2020 for Bulgaria is 16% (in the year 2005 the share was 9.4%). At the end of December 2009, Bulgaria submitted a forecast document concerning the production of renewable energy in accordance with which the technical potential for production of energy from renewable sources is around 4,500 ktoe. The distribution between the various types of sources is uneven with hydropower (~31%) and biomass (~36%) having the highest shares. The country’s geographical location predetermines the relatively marginal share of wind energy (~7.5%) and wave and tidal energy. At the same time, the country has substantial forest resources and well-developed agriculture — sources both of solid biomass, biogas and biofuels. As at 2008, Bulgaria made full use of its hydropower potential through HPPs and, partly, its solid biomass potential, which was used primarily for heating in households and in public buildings. Electricity generation from wind and photovoltaic power plants is rapidly developing, as well as the use of solar energy for hot water purposes in the residential and services sector.

Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources and Biofuels Act came into force in November 2008. Its main objective is to promote RES generation technology development and implementation. By virtue of this act public national information system will be created, research and development in the field of RES will be supported mechanisms for promoting the production and use of clean energy will be introduced. Moreover, obligations and competences of executive authorities and local governments have been clearly described to allow efficient implementation of the state policy measures

Renewable electricity: PV

Bulgaria has turned into a hot spot for PV investments in recent years, thanks to the good irradiation conditions and the obligation for Bulgaria’s government to achieve a 16% share of energy from renewable sources by 2020. So far 17 MW have been installed in Bulgaria but rapid growth in the Bulgarian PV market is expected.

Feed-in tariff rates are set by the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission. The Renewable and Alternative Energy Sources and Biofuels Act lays down feed-in tariffs for electricity produced from renewable energy sources, except for energy produced by hydropower plants of over 10 MW installed capacity and biomass-fired power plants of over 5 MW installed capacity. Feed-in tariff rates [in BGN/MWh] amount to 80 per cent of the average selling price of the Public Supplier or Public Retailers in the previous calendar year plus a surcharge determined by the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (‘SEWRC’) in accordance with criteria relating to the technology and type of primary energy source. The surcharge may not be less than 95 per cent or higher than 105 per cent of its amount in the previous calendar year. Each year, the regulator draws up a document setting the feed-in tariffs according to technology and some technical parameters. On 30 March 2009 by Decision № Ц-04/ 30.03.2009, SEWRC determined the preferential purchase price of electricity, produced from renewable energy sources, such as water, wind, solar power, as well as from direct combustion of biomass. The prices for 2010 are as follows:

• PVPPs of up to 5 kWp installed capacity 823 BGN per MW/h (420.811 EUR/MWh),
• PVPPs of over 5 kWp installed capacity BGN 755.00/ MWh (386.011 EUR/MWh).

Apart from FIT, Bulgarian PV sector is supported with preferential soft loans allocated by private banks. In Bulgaria, 20% of the project investment can be financed with financial resources from a reduced interest loan offered by the Bulgarian Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Credit.

Juwi Solar has announced its 3.6 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) project, located in the Bulgarian town of Drachevo has been connected to the grid. According to the company, it is the country’s largest PV park. The park is the first project to be undertaken by juwi in Bulgaria, but further projects in the pipeline. With 15,444 crystalline Yingli modules with an output of 3.6 MW, 4.3 million kilowatt-hours can be produced. The park has been delivering clean energy to 1,300 households.

Future programme changes expected

The draft of the new law for energy from renewable sources (RES law) has been accepted at recent (02.02.2011) session of the Council of Ministers. We expect the first reading of the law in the Parliament to happen in the upcoming weeks. The investors will receive a competitive feed-in tariff for the duration the period of the long-term contract. For solar and geothermal power, the long-term the contract will be for 25 years. All other renewable energy plants will receive a 15-year contract.

The new renewable energy law also proposes a change in the Energy act so that now all new capacities over 1 MW will have to be licensed. The old text requires licenses for capacities over 5 MW. The selected investors will then have to pay a price for connection – 25 thousand EUR for each MW of installed capacity of the future energy plant. The money will be distributed to both the distribution and transmission grid and will have to cover all expenses for rehabilitation and/or upgrade of the grid. If the grid companies could not connect the plant within the provided deadline, they will have to return to the investor an amount which is double the fee, paid by the investors. The operators of electricity distribution grids will have to send to the transmission grid operator their possibilities for connection of new capacities until February 28 each year. The SEWRC will be presented with the capacities along with the minister of economy and energy and they will decide until April 30 the maximum number of capacities that could be connected. By June 30 (each year) the SEWRC will publish the number of capacities that could be connected. Between July 1 and September 30 (each year) all investors shall directly apply to the SEWRC. By October 31 the SEWRC shall announce about the acceptability of applications and until November 30 – which of the capacities will be connected if there are more applications than free capacities.

So far the capacity of 17 MWp was installed in 2010. NREAP estimated that total contribution from PV energy in Bulgaria will reach 220 MWp in 2015 and meet the binding target of 303 MWp in 2020. Electricity production from this type of source is expected to reach 454 GWh (a 6 % share of electricity from renewable sources).The expectations of the market are much higher by 2015 500 to 1000 MWp,. by 2020 2.5 to 4 GW. Electricity production by solar photovoltaic installations is developing more rapidly over the past few years. Investor appetite is expected to increase The planned average annual output varies from 1 250 kWh to 1 550 kWh per installed kWp.

The largest Solar PV project in Bulgaria and one of the largest in the EU was officially launched in December 2010. The 45 MWp project consisting of one 20 MWp solar photovoltaic installation and one 25 MWp solar photovoltaic installation in the villages of Samovodene and Zlataritsa is currently under construction with almost 5 MWs already completed. The project will be fully operational by the end of 2011. The project was created by a partnership of U.S. - based renewable energy company NEOptions, the Bulgarian Development Collaborative, and South Korean solar power company SDN. NEOptions is a California based renewable energy company, with global expertise in project development and building integrated solar products. SDN Co., is a South Korean producer of power generators, solar modules and marine propellers.

Toshiba and Tokyo Electric Power will be teaming up with the Japanese government to construct one of the largest solar power stations in the world in Bulgaria. Toshiba, headquartered in Tokyo, plans to build a large solar power plant in Bulgaria. The plant site will be the eastern city of Yambol and completion is expected to be by March 2012. The cost is slated at more than 100 billion Japanese Yen (0.88 billion EUR).Toshiba, Tokyo Electric, Japanese trader Itochu and the government-backed Innovation Network of Japan will set up a local joint venture, investing a total of around JPY50 billion. CEZ Group, the seventh ranked European power utility will also take part in the joint-venture. The plant is set to start with an output capacity of approximately 50,000 kilowatts. According to reports, Bulgaria will benefit from Japanese technology to ensure the country's aims to comply with EU goals as well regarding renewable energy. 16 percent of the power will be from renewable sources by 2020 in Bulgaria, a jump from the present seven.

Sources

www.pv-nms.net/

http://www.erec.org/fileadmin/erec_docs/Projcet_Documents/RES2020/BULGARIA_RES_Policy_Review__09_Final.pdf

National Renewable Energy Action Plan for Bulgaria, 30 June 2010 URL: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/doc/national_renewable_energy_action_plan_bulgaria_en.pdf

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/2-mw-pv-plant-installed-in-bulgaria-country-could-hit-4-gw-capacity-by-2020_100001275/

Institute for Renewable Energy, Poland.

http://www.expoua.com/News/lang/en/newsid/47054/

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details_/beitrag/toshiba-to-build-solar-plant-in-bulgaria_100002032/8/

http://www.resbulgaria.com/2011/02/new-law-for-energy-from-renewable-sources/

http://www.resbulgaria.com/2010/01/producing-electricity-from-renewable-energy-sources-in-bulgaria/

http://www.resbulgaria.com/2010/11/the-bulgarian-ministry-of-economy-and-energy-presented-the-new-law-for-renewable-energy/

This information can be referenced without permission provided that the source is mentioned completely and correctly: 'Interactive EurObserv'ER Database, http://www.eurobserv-er.org

date of last update: 1^st March 2011

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