The Cooling of the RS Market Reached the Freezing Point

The decrease of the prices for the electricity from RES, especially for photovoltaic electricity, was followed by a decision of State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) for adoption of zero network capacities for integration producers of electricity from wind and solar for the one year period, starting from 1 July 2012.

The reason for this decision is the identified mismatch between the network development plans and the investment intentions. According to the 10-year Bulgarian transmission network development plan, elaborated by ESO, the wind power capacity is forecasted to reach 1600 MW and the photovoltaic 600 MW by 2020. Meanwhile, the signed preliminary and final contracts so far, substantially exceed these numbers – they envisage a construction of 2360 MW wind and 1707 MW photovoltaic power plants.

The decision is not relevant to and does not restrict the construction of RES capacities using other resources, as well as the construction of small photovoltaic capacities.