Page 80 - SE Outlook Regions 2022

Meanwhile, new renewable energy projects are being implemented in
the country. In November 2021, the Bulgarian investment group Renalfa
and Danish developer Eurowind Energy set up the EURA Energy, a
co-owned joint venture company that will operate on the Bulgarian
renewable energy market.

The first project to be carried out by EURA Energy is expected to be the
200+ MWp solar project Tenevo, located in southeastern Bulgaria. The
construction of the solar park should begin in the first quarter of 2023.

Also in November, the Spanish energy company Factorenergia said
that it will open an office in Bulgaria and intends to operate on the
natural gas and electricity market in the country. The company,
specialised in the supply of electricity and natural gas, is currently
obtaining the necessary documents to start operations in Bulgaria.

The company intends to work in Bulgaria with local associates,
including football star Hristo Stoichkov who for years played for the
Barcelona football club.

In the shorter term, Bulgaria has to deal with the surging energy prices
that are affecting the business and households amid the already tough
economic situation. In an attempt to find a short-term solution, the
parliament decided to freeze the prices of electricity, water and heating
until the end of March in order to tackle the crisis with surging energy
prices.

Bulgaria will also ask the EU to approve a reduction of VAT on
electricity and gas by half, to 10%, in the first four months of 2022 to
compensate for rising energy costs for companies and households. The
country will also ask the EC to approve plans for state aid for electricity
distribution companies to soften the expected hike of prices for
households. The price for households is regulated by the state.

In November, the EC added three Bulgarian projects, including the
construction of the gas link to Serbia, the expansion of the Chiren
underground gas storage and rehabilitation of the local gas
transmission network to the list of projects of common interest.

The expansion of Chiren, which is the country’s sole gas storage
facility, has been delayed for years. Bulgartransgaz hopes to get funds
under the Connecting Europe Facility – CEF.

Following the expansion, the capacity of the Chiren storage will reach
1bn cubic metres (bcm) from the current 550mn cubic metres. This is
expected to stimulate the diversification of gas supplies and increase
competition, Bulgartransgaz said in a statement.

The project to build the gas link with Serbia aims to connect the gas
transportation networks of the two countries, securing new capacity for
transportation. The new network should have capacity to transport 1.8
bcm of gas per year. So far, the project has been co-financed under the
CEF with €28.2mn.

80 SE Outlook 2022 www.intellinews.com