After the European Commission will completely revise its plans for the “Green Deal“, the topic of energy in the EU is becoming increasingly relevant. Nuclear energy, renewable energy, coal… The topic was commented on by Dr. Eng. Rosen Tsvetkov, energy expert and former deputy regional governor of Gabrovo (2017-2021) to FACTI.
- Mr. Tsvetkov, what are the challenges facing the energy sector both at the EU level and at the Bulgarian level?
- The topic is big, but what is typical for Bulgaria? In our country, we are witnessing an unprecedented in recent years utilization of fertile lands of the first and second categories for the installation of photovoltaic panels and wind generators. Here we may have reasonable assumptions that this is a matter of abuse and the inclusion of huge capacities in our energy system. The problems come on the one hand from the lobbying destruction of fertile lands of the first and second categories, and on the other hand from the connection of huge unbalanced capacities to our energy system.
- What are the risks of a continued increase in the share of renewable energy in the energy mix?
- The risks are rooted in the fact that we are converting entire lands in municipalities into supposedly “green“ electricity production, while sacrificing extremely fertile land. Currently, the installed renewable energy sources are over 4500 megawatts, which is more than double the capacity of the two units at the “Kozloduy“ NPP. Methods for extracting energy from the sun have their place when they are located where the energy is produced, namely in cities on flat roofs, for example.
- What could be the measures to regulate this?
- I believe that a moratorium should be put in place to stop the construction of large RES plants until the parliament reviews the current legislative framework and makes it so that the construction of small plants up to 30 KW is tolerated. Otherwise, we will witness more of the same - commissioning of ever larger power plants, benefiting a narrow circle of people close to certain politicians.
- How much of the electricity that is produced during the day is actually used?
- We use less than half of the installed capacity of RES power plants even on a sunny day, because this excess supply of energy would overload our energy system and therefore they are stopped/disconnected from the grid. The problem is that we cannot rely solely on RES and therefore the off-peak operation of the grid is provided by thermal power plants and nuclear power plants, and we, the consumers, pay the price for this “generous“ RES mix.
- More and more large and energy-intensive enterprises have invested in building their own photovoltaic power plants. What option is this for business? How profitable is it…
- Such an investment is quite suitable for business, because it uses its own source, placed on a flat roof or in the yard of the enterprise. Such an investment would have a return in 7-8 years. The profitability comes from the fact that we do not have all these transmission media from low to high voltage and vice versa.
- It turns out that during the winter period, electricity in Sweden, for example, is very cheap, but it cannot reach Bulgaria, Eastern Europe. Is the EU lagging behind in its energy connectivity…
- Sweden has done its homework, as do all Scandinavian countries, they rely on their natural resources, namely water resources. They use nuclear power plants as off-peak generation capacity. The EU is not only lagging behind in its connectivity, but is increasingly sinking into energy poverty, and, as we know, energy is everything and is directly related to quality of life. In recent years, the number of households in Bulgaria that are energy poor and unable to provide themselves with thermal comfort in winter has been growing rapidly.
- In 2024, we postponed the liberalization of the electricity market for household consumers, but June 2025 is approaching, and no one is talking about it. Are we ready in Bulgaria for households to enter the free market, or will we postpone it again…
- I think that the campaign is sluggish and people do not have enough information about what will happen. Also, a large part of households - over 40%, can be categorized as energy poor in the event of an increase in electricity prices for the end user. The state has lost the battle with the energy distribution companies and very soon we will reap the bitter fruits of years of neglecting the sector.