Round table ''COAL AND THE GREEN TRANSITION – NEW REALITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR BULGARIA"

We bring to your attention the moderator’s conclusions of the roundtable discussion organized by the Energy Management Institute in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce on “Coal and the Green Transition – New Realities and Challenges for Bulgaria“.

The event was held on 16.02.2023 in Stara Zagora. The conclusions contain details on the participants, highlights and discussions. Summary of the main messages:

There are specific expectations for increased transparency on the preparation of the national position for the negotiations with the European institutions on the renegotiation of the conditions set out in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, mandated by the decision of the National Assembly of 12 January 2023; this fact is complemented by the common expectations for a comprehensive vision for the development of the energy sector, taking into account other strategic documents, including the integrated Energy and Climate Plan, etc., reassessment of which is imminent;
There are still huge and fundamental differences between the representatives of the different societal formations regarding the understanding of the green transition and the role of coal in this respect; in fact, these differences are rather deepening;
The lack of finalised and formally presented to the European Commission Just Transition Plans is a source of concern especially at a local level, which has its very strong public expression;
The lack of a comprehensive energy strategy, duly adopted, creates conditions for speculation, despite the efforts of the caretaker government in this regard by presenting a concrete long-term vision for the development of the electricity sector, but objectively at national level this is not enough;
The above speculations are fueled also in the context of the competition between coal on the one hand and nuclear power and gas on the other, which was also given special attention in the discussions;
On a purely expert level, the topics of the development of electricity networks, the future of coal-fired power plants (both state and private owned), retraining, environmental protection, the need to introduce new technologies, etc. continue to be at the centre of public attention, but with different and often contradictory public assessments;
Objectively, the lack of vision hampers both the green transition, which is not only about the energy sector; within the energy sector, however, the lack of vision leads to a lack of adequate assessment of the upcoming changes that will take place under the influence of the development of the energy market – moreover, the changes may occur much faster than envisaged in strategic documents and despite the claims of political quacks;
Contributing to the overall pattern of radically conflicting perceptions within public attitudes is the ongoing political instability, as well as the expectation that it will continue – the fact that e.g. not a single governor of the four invited ones attended the event is also indicative of the caution that has gripped politicians and local government representatives.

The full text of the findings can be found in the following file.