Bulgaria's Energy Minister Recommends Disconnecting Noncompliant Renewable Energy Plants

Asen Vasilev, Bulgaria's caretaker Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, photo by BGNES

Asen Vasilev, Bulgaria's caretaker Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, has proposed that renewable energy installations without certificates should be temporarily disconnected from the country's power grid.

Vasilev explained Monday that around 40% of all photovoltaic plants and wind turbines had failed to submit real-time information about the amount of electricity produced to the National Dispatching Center (NDC) of the Electricity System Operator (ESO) for the past nine months, thereby breaching legal requirements.

He argued that the non-compliant renewable energy plants had to be disconnected until achieving legal compliance.

Stressing that the lack of such reports could prove very dangerous for the energy grid at a certain point, Vasilev made clear that he had sent instructions to power distributors and ESO to disconnect the non-compliant plants.

Bulgaria's caretaker Economy and Energy Minister further explained that the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism would send a proposal to the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (DKEVR) to change the pricing formula for energy generated by high-efficiency combined-cycle industrial power stations.

Vasilev noted that another proposal would include a reduction of the so-called cold reserve from 1040 MW to 840 MW for the period until September 2013 and the organization of a tender for purchasing energy for the cold reserve in line with the requirements of the Energy Act.

He informed that the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism would also ask ESO to propose a legally and technically sound mechanism for abolishing the restrictions on electricity exports to Turkey.

Vasilev emphasized that Turkey was not a part of the pan-European energy network and there were restrictions on the electricity export capacity at the Turkish border which had to be lifted.

He said that Bulgaria's energy watchdog was to adopt rules for trade in electricity which were to enter into force as of April 15, marking the first step towards the liberalization of the electricity market and boosting Bulgaria's competitiveness.

He also suggested that DKEVR had to reconsider the opportunity to modify the electricity transmission fee so as to stimulate export.

Bulgaria's caretaker Economy and Energy Minister noted that the Commission on Protection of Competition (KZK) had to start an energy sector analysis, while the Public Financial Inspection Agency (PFIA) had to audit public procurement procedures at the major state-owned energy enterprises.

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