Bulgaria’s power engineering has long been in a very difficult situation. It has been adapting for a long time to the market economy and new technologies. However, the reforms in this sector have been postponed and neglected, as well. As a result, the power engineering sector, especially the electricity power engineering, where state power plants work with many private companies and where electricity distribution and market are regulated by the state, faced a series of heavy problems. The sector faces two major problems - excessive output on the one hand and low electricity prices on the other, which do not allow the producers and distributors of electricity to make the necessary investments and expenditures in this sector.

Bulgaria still has the ambition to be an energy center in the Balkans, because of its huge production capacity and due to the electricity deficit in some neighboring countries. Most of Bulgaria’s electricity export is directed to Greece and Turkey. However, these countries do not let the grass grow under their feet and started to work actively, in order to reduce their energy dependence on foreign supplies. It is enough to mention that Turkey is now building and is planning to build in the nearest future several giant nuclear power plants. Greece has been constantly expanding its gas facilities due to its geographic position and the production of renewable energy has been flourishing in all countries. As a result, Bulgaria’s export of electricity has been dwindling. Local electricity consumption has been also decreasing due to the implementation of energy efficiency measures, the use of more energy-saving technologies and the new energy sources.

Meanwhile, new energy projects have been constantly discussed in Bulgaria, in contradiction to these trends. Several years ago the country intended to build a new nuclear power plant in Belene. Later it revealed plans to construct another nuclear unit on the premises of the current nuclear power plant in Kozloduy. Then, the country voiced its intentions to build a gas distribution hub on its territory at the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. However, no progress was registered in any of the abovementioned projects. On the contrary, the country’s power engineering field has accumulated colossal debt, which currently exceeds EUR 1.5 billion and the system continues to loose money. However, the situation could not continue any longer. That is why several units in some of Bulgaria’s biggest thermal power plants stopped functioning. The second step regards the amendments to the electricity prices made by the Water and Energy Regulatory Commission (WERC) made each year on July 1. Last, but not the least, the Bulgarian consumers are expecting from competent authorities to include in the energy mix electricity from cheap energy sources, which is currently exported by private energy companies, which make big profits.

Experts from the power engineering sector say that electricity prices should see a big increase, while politicians fear that the citizens would not be able to bear the burden of such price hike. Meanwhile, the problems in the sector remain, the situation continues to worsen and soon the authorities will probably have to take some painful decisions.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov