Bulgaria has the potential to become a regional leader in the development of artificial intelligence thanks to plans for new nuclear power plants. This is clear from statements by leading experts and state representatives, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.
The Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov announced his intention to organize a roadshow among investors to present the new nuclear power plants in Kozloduy. According to him, the territory around the nuclear power plant is the ideal place for the development of data centers and artificial intelligence.
Bulgaria currently has about 20 data centers in Sofia, Plovdiv and Ruse, managed by 11 organizations. Recently, the supercomputer "Discover" was upgraded with new functionalities for artificial intelligence, which shows the development of the sector.
Zdravko Nikolov, CEO of Equinix in Bulgaria, a company that manages 2 out of a total of 260 data centers worldwide, points out: "The new thing that will consume more energy than traditional consumers of computing resources is artificial intelligence. This is an extremely energy-intensive process that will happen outside large agglomerations."
Peter Stattev from "Sofia Tech Park" supports the idea of advertising the new nuclear power plants as a source of energy for data centers. "The biggest expense in maintaining high-performance machines is energy, electricity,", he emphasizes.
Globally, IT companies plan to use at least 60 small modular reactors, mainly in India and the USA. The company "Microsoft" is even considering the use of nuclear fusion for the needs of artificial intelligence.
Minister Stankov revealed that an interdepartmental working group is being created for the priority construction of new nuclear capacities, with the seventh unit of the "Kozloduy" NPP expected to start operating in 2033-2034.