Vesselin Todorov: The electricity price ceiling will deepen the energy crisis

At the end of August, the Council of Ministers made a decision by which it determined the values used to calculate the market revenue ceiling of electricity producers. The decision to reduce the income ceiling of electricity producers was made without public discussion and is valid retroactively from July 1, and the Ministry of Energy commented that the purpose is to collect funds in the "Security of the Energy System" Fund, which is designed to address the effects of possible high energy prices and will support businesses and household consumers.

Industry representatives commented that the decision taken without public discussion will lead to a deepening of the energy and economic crisis, as well as their concerns that the "Energy System Security" Fund does not have a clear and transparent mechanism of action, thus increasing the opportunities for manifestation of corrupt practices.

"The industry warned years ago that a major energy crisis was coming. However, Bulgaria still does not have an energy strategy and the consequences of this are visible. Making quick piecemeal decisions without public discussion will only deepen the energy crisis", commented Dr. Eng. Veselin Todorov - Chairman of the Association "Solar Academy Bulgaria".

The government decision states that producers of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) without a premium compensation contract will set their market revenue ceiling at BGN 300 per megawatt-hour of electricity produced, which is BGN 50 lower from the previous price. According to the members of the "Solar Academy Bulgaria" Association, in this way, our country cannot compete in the RES energy market in Europe, and this decision will lead to another outflow of investors, as the returns will become increasingly difficult.

"Against the background of investments in RES and expensive technologies, this 50 BGN difference is of great importance. The ceiling of BGN 300 per megawatt hour, which the government sets, is not enough, just as the price was not enough in the higher amount. At a time when we are in an energy transformation, when Europe is strongly stimulating the transition to clean energy and the installation of more and more renewable energy sources and when energy diversification needs to be done, we again ask ourselves the question whether green energy is a priority in Bulgaria", commented also Dr. Eng. Veselin Todorov.

The Association "Solar Academy Bulgaria" recalls that in July there were days when the price of electricity was close to zero or even negative, which for RES producers means that at that time they were operating at a loss, but at the same time not received no compensation. The organization points out that the most effective solution would be to stimulate the construction of RES capacities, which in the long term will lead Bulgaria out of the energy crisis. According to the Association, this money should not have been used to subsidize the business in order to pay its electricity bills, but to stimulate the construction of its own RES systems.

Association SOLAR ACADEMY BULGARIA was founded at the end of 2021 as a response to the need for more awareness, building a sustainable strategy for the development of the energy sector in Bulgaria and supporting education to meet the new needs of the labor market.

The purpose of the Association is to work in the direction of creating better opportunities for investors and consumers, reducing administrative burdens, assisting the state in building a sustainable strategy for the development of the energy sector, training qualified personnel and creating uniform standards related to with the contractors of various projects.