Electrohold proposes European funds to be used to improve energy infrastructure and build smart grids

The energy company Electrohold has proposed that part of the European funds invested in our country be used for investments in energy infrastructure. In this way, the network will be renewed faster, digitalisation will be advanced and the development of green energy in general will be facilitated. This became clear from the words of the company's CEO Karel Kral, He presented the new vision of the company, which is now called "Electrohold". The company, together with all the companies in the group, are the legal successors of the CEZ companies that operated in Bulgaria. Now the new logos of the group of energy companies have been officially presented. This is the "last step" in the process of acquiring CEZ Bulgaria's companies from the Eurohold Bulgaria group, Kral said.

The director of Electrohold clarified that the orange and gray colors of the group's logos were not chosen by chance. Orange means comfort, warmth and positive energy. Electrohold has decided to leave this color in its names and logos because of this, but also because the group "does not end the connection with the past, but builds on what has been built in the last 15 years" targeting CEZ. "Gray is the color of stability, industrial development and in combination with orange gives an idea of ​​a technology company," King told reporters.

He was adamant that Electrohold's mission is to provide energy to its customers, to introduce innovative solutions, to invest sustainably and to improve the quality of life of its customers, added Karel Kral. The vision of the group is to be a leader in the energy market not only in Bulgaria but also in international markets. Electrohold wants to build on the values ​​of professionalism, responsibility, efficiency, stability, customer trust and innovation.

Electrohold Bulgaria EOOD will be the legal successor of CEZ Bulgaria EOOD, Electrohold Sales AD - of CEZ Electro Bulgaria AD, Electrohold Trade EAD will be the name of CEZ Trade Bulgaria EAD, and the company for providing ICT services will be called Electrohold ICT EAD. There are also two companies responsible for green projects - the photovoltaic plant "Free Energy Project Oreshets" and "Bara Group" with the idea of ​​a biofuel heating plant in Smolyan.

Vladimir Dichev, Chief Commercial Officer, will be responsible for the companies Electrohold Sales and Electrohold Trade. The Executive Director and Chairman of the Management Board Georgi Mikov is a representative of ERM West and will be responsible for all issues related to network services.

The Electrohold Group is not only a supplier of electricity, but also a wholesaler of energy. The group supplies energy to large industrial customers as well as retailers. That is why there are two companies, Electrohold Sales will be responsible for households, and Electrohold Trade will focus on business needs.

Electrohold wants to develop know-how technologies. This includes services for photovoltaic parks, photovoltaics on roofs, energy saving, cooling, heating, cogeneration and other energy services. "We want to deliver a complete solution to our customer - from A to Z," said Karel Kral. The company's intentions are to develop throughout the country and in the region of Central and Eastern Europe, not only as a provider of energy services.

In Bulgaria, Electrohold will also develop outside its territory for electricity supply. The Group will open new offices in Varna, Burgas and Plovdiv. Electrohold, as part of the Eurohold group, aspires to the energy group to develop its market outside Bulgaria. The group already participates in the markets in Romania, Poland, where it develops insurance business. The ambition is for Electrohold, with the support of the parent company, to become an "international player" in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. The King himself reminded that 80 percent of the services that Electrohold Sales offers to its end customers can be performed online without the need for people to visit the company's office.

Network investments

For its part, ERM West will continue to invest in the modernization of the electricity distribution network. So far, an average of about BGN 100 million a year has been invested in this infrastructure over the last five years. Most of the investments are related to digitalization, modernization, automation and remote control of the network. These are the real steps that ERM West is striving for in order to meet the new RES challenges, smart grids, charging stations and prosumers. However, this requires huge investments. According to Karel Kral, it would be good for Bulgaria to take advantage of the opportunities for these projects to be financed by European funds, because this is the way to build a smart network earlier, without affecting the price for end users. In the end, if the resources of the European funds and the Recovery Plan are not used, the modernization of the network will have to be paid from the bills of the Bulgarian consumers, it became clear during the presentation.

Investing in critical infrastructure is also essential for ERM West. The company has prepared its distribution network and can meet the peak load during the winter season, even in the conditions of gas crisis, said Georgi Mikov.

Regarding the applications for RES connection, Mikov explained that a good option would be to work on a regional basis - to collect all applications from a region for RES investments and to distribute the financial burden between investors and the owner of the network. In this way, it will be more profitable to make RES investments and to make the network "smarter".