After receiving the green light in July for the amendments proposed by Bulgaria to the Recovery and Resilience Plan, as well as for the projects and reforms included in the REPowerEU chapter, last week the Ministry of Energy published for public consultation the rules and requirements for the continuation of the RESTORE program.

Under the upcoming program, the construction and commissioning of national infrastructure for the storage of electricity from renewable sources will be supported, with at least 1,900 MWh of usable energy capacity at the level of the electricity grid. The storage facilities will be distributed across Bulgaria and connected either to the transmission network of ESO EAD or to a distribution network, provided that they have a direct optical connection to ESO EAD’s telecommunications network, and correspondingly to ESO EAD’s SCADA/EMS.

The total amount of grant funding for the investment is BGN 230 787 940. The maximum intensity of grant funding for each applicant is up to 50% of eligible costs, but not more than BGN 156,466 (excluding VAT) per 1 MWh of usable energy capacity.

The public consultation will be open until 15 September 2025.