Bulgaria Set to Become Europe's Wind Energy Front-Runner

It was announced that from the current 330 MW installed the amount of energy supplied will reach over 3,000 MW by 2020. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria is set to dramatically expand its wind power output in the next ten years to meet 13,5% of the country’s electricity demand by 2020.

It was announced that from the current 330 MW installed the amount of energy supplied will reach over 3,000 MW by 2020, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reported.

At a workshop in Sofia organized by the EWEA in cooperation with the Bulgarian Association of Producers of Ecological Energy (APEE), industry, government representatives, and national electricity companies gathered Tuesday to discuss the potential for wind power development in Bulgaria.

“With installed capacity increasing more than fivefold in less than two years, Bulgaria is one of the fastest growing markets for wind energy in the world. Moreover, it has another 8 000 MW of wind projects in the pipeline. If current planning and grid access barriers are streamlined, Bulgaria will soon be one of Europe’s wind energy front-runners, reaping the economic benefits in the form of new jobs, reduced fuel import dependency and technology development,” said Christian Kjaer, EWEA’s Chief Executive.

The EU directive establishing mandatory targets for renewable energy for all EU Member States requires Bulgaria to increase the amount of renewables in its energy mix to 16% by 2020, up from the current level of 9.4%. Bulgaria must submit its national action plan - outlining the measures it will take to boost renewable energy – by June 2010.

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