Energy Commission Chief: Bulgaria has Not Signed a Contract for the Supply of US LNG Yet

“If the storage in Chiren is not 100% full and the gas connection with Greece does not work, there is a risk of gas supply to consumers and district heating”. This was stated on BNT by the chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) Stanislav Todorov. He also announced that a contract for the supply of American liquefied natural gas has not been signed yet.

"So far I think that negotiations are underway, but as far as I am aware, I cannot confirm whether there is one signed. The moment such a step is taken, the contract must be submitted to the EWRC for approval. So far, I think negotiations are underway, but as far as I am aware, I cannot confirm whether one has been signed. The second thing that needs to happen in order to guarantee consumption in Bulgaria is to fill Chiren to 100%. At the moment it is 23%. I think it's too little. About 15% must be filled from now on without missing a single day, so that it can be filled by October 1. The third thing that needs to happen is for the gas connection with Greece to be built and start operating," Todorov said.

“There is speculation that there will be electricity regime in our country”, said the head of the EWRC. Because Bulgaria has the capacity to produce almost twice as much as it consumes. If the crisis deepens, it is an option to stop the export of electricity, but Todorov does not see a realistic hypothesis for this to happen.

He added that the cheapest energy will probably be during the day, and not as before at night. In our country and in the neighboring countries many photovoltaic installations are installed and during the day between 12.00 and 16.00 is the lowest energy throughout the day.

"Bulgaria produces a large part of the electricity in the whole Balkan Peninsula, we have a surplus of electricity and together with Kozloduy NPP Bulgarian consumers can get electricity at a relatively low price. We removed the subsidies received by all RES producers and transferred them to everyday consumers." Todorov explained the EWRC's proposal to increase the price of electricity by only 3.3%.

Todorov said he admired the changes proposed by the Ministry of Energy and “There Is Such a People” in the Energy Act, as they allow the use of a new mechanism - the so-called block tariffs. They aim to protect the most vulnerable consumers, those with the lowest consumption. A one-bedroom apartment, which consumes, for example, up to 200 kWh - which is a bill of about 40-50 levs. Every consumer with such a bill will be confident that it will remain so in the future, said Todorov. If this limit is exceeded, a higher price is paid. What will be the limit, experts will suggest in the near future.

However, Todorov believes that we should not rush with the block tariffs, because for the household consumers affordable prices for next year are provided.

Regarding the increase in the price of heating, Todorov said that for some it is a lot, but unlike electricity, Bulgaria does not produce gas and must import, and unfortunately, it has its price on international markets.

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/BNT

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