Growing picture of Wind renewable energy in Bulgaria now
Green energy investments to top 500 mln euro
Some 500 mln euro will be invested in wind farms in northeastern Bulgaria by the end of 2009, said Velizar Kiryakov, chairman of the association of eco energy producers. Another 100 mln levs will be spent on photovoltaic systems.
The favourable climate in this part of the country helps recoup the investments within eight years on average.
US company AES is developing the biggest wind farm project in Bulgaria. It is the investor in the Maritsa East coal-fired power plant and is building a 156 MW wind farm near Kavarna, on the northern coast.
Spanish company Eolica will raise a 160 MW wind park locked between Suvorovo and Valchi Dol, near the northern coastal city of Varna.
A few smaller projects of Austrian and Bulgarian companies with a total capacity of 105 MW will go online by the end of 2008.
Kiryakov sounded the alarm that Bulgaria is lagging drastically behind global and European requirements on percentage of renewable energy. Some 11 pct of Bulgaria’s power output should come from alternative energy sources by 2013 and 16 pct in 2020, under a draft EU directive pending approval by the end of the year. The requirement for industrial producers to buy CO2 emissions will hike electricity prices to include greenhouse gas emissions, whose cost is expected to surge to 50 or 60 euro per tone.
Now renewable energy makes 9.1 pct of Bulgaria total output with wind farms generating 9.0 pct of it. The remainder is produced by wind generators, photovoltaic systems and biomass.
