Wind 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 electricity: wind

The share of electricity produced by wind power plants is increasing but it is still marginal and amounts to 6.4% of the electricity produced from renewable sources in Bulgaria. The development of the wind energy sector in Bulgaria takes into account the construction of onshore wind farms. Bulgaria is located in a region with relatively low wind energy potential and it is assumed that installations will operate for 1500 to 1800 full effective hours. Installed capacities and electricity output from this type of plants are expected to increase significantly in 2020 with 30 % of renewable energy being generated by wind power plants. In the north-east of Bulgaria, which is the area with the highest wind energy potential, there are renewable installations which are not allowed to operate at full capacity by the operator due to capacity limitations of the grid infrastructure. A project for reinforcement and expansion of the network is already underway, which is expected to resolve this problem but administrative procedures may take longer than expected. Investors have expressed a strong interest in the construction of new capacities — up to 2200 MWe in total for the country — but, notwithstanding the signed preliminary connection agreements, the connection process is blocked by reason of the insufficient development of the transmission network, the slow procedures for alienation of property, the long procedures for coordination with the competent authorities, etc. In this regard, NEK is planning to expand the transmission network by constructing new 400 kV substations and an additional high voltage network in this area.

Not later than 31 March each year, the regulator (SEWRC) sets feed-in tariffs. Adjustments

fall within the competence of the SEWRC. In respect of electricity produced by wind, different prices are applied according to capacity. Feed-in tariffs in Bulgaria are set between 80-90 EUR/MWh in 2010 and the prices are fixed for 15 years.

Future programme changes expected

The installed capacity of 336 MWe of wind energy was in 2010. It is estimated that total contribution from wind energy in Bulgaria will reach 984MW in 2015 and meet the binding target of 1256MW in 2020.

Sources

Institute for Renewable Energy, Poland.

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

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/transparency_platform/doc/national_renewable_energy_action_plan_bulgaria_en.pdf

http://ziuaenergiei.ro/pdf/Erste_Bank_Ladislav_Tolmaci.pdf

Update: February 2011

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