RES Investors Expressed Disappointment on Latest Regulatory Decisions at IENE’s Workshop on «Bulgaria’s Green Energy Challenge» Held in Sofia

The Institute of Energy for South East Europe (IENE), true to its regional role and its commitment in promoting public dialogue, organized, on October 10, an intensive workshop in Sofia on "Bulgaria’s Green Energy Challenge”, which attracted more than 80 participants; investors, professionals and experts of the RES Bulgarian sector. The workshop, organized in cooperation with the Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association (BPVA), the Bulgarian Wind Energy Association (BWEA), the Association of Producers of Ecological Energy (APEE), the Bulgarian Green Building Council (BGWA) and the Bulgarian Geothermal Association (BGA ), took place at a very critical time junction for RES in Bulgaria due to the recent reductions in feed-in tariffs.

More specifically, the fast development of RES in the country over the last five years and consistent efforts by government and NGO’s alike to further raise public awareness on the need for energy efficiency and the introduction of RES at all levels, were highlighted at the IENE workshop.The need to meet the European targets of 20-20-20, the new developments following latest significant cuts to feed-in tariffs by the Bulgarian government for wind and solar PV, the lack of sufficient grid connections for large-scale renewable projects, as well as the country’s long-term commitment to achieve greater energy independence, were some important issues that were discussed during the workshop.

The workshop’ s proceedings begun with introductory remarks by IENE’s Executive Director, Mr. Costis Stambolis, followed by Dr. Tudor Constantinescu, (Principal Adviser, Directorate General for Energy, European Commission, Brussels), who made detailed reference to EU’s financial instruments and to the European "Green Energy”policies. Dr. Constantinescu referred to all the achievements that have been made up to this day, as well as to future prospects, stressing the policies and instruments currently in place in promoting energy efficiency.

Mr. John Chadjivasiliadis, consulting engineer and Secretary General of IENE, emphasized the need for further participation of RES in the energy mix of the SE Europe, stressing its importance for the achievement of European targets of 20-20-20 as well as for the formation of new Energy Roadmap towards 2050. The first session concluded with a thorough description of the RES sector of Bulgaria by the Chairman of APEE, Mr. Velizar Kiriakov.

The absence of Bulgarian government officials and representatives of state-owned companies from this very topical event for the country’s energy agenda was most disappointing for all the participants at IENE’s workshop, who were eager to discuss the controversial issue of the recent abrupt reduction in feed-in tariffs in PV and wind energy, that caused a major upheaval to the investors in the country’s RES sector.

Mr. Sebastian Noethlichs (Executive Director, BGWEA), Ms. Mariyanna Yanneva (Deputy Executive Director, BGWEA), and mainly professionals of the PV sector, including Mr. Nikola Gazdov (Chairman, BPVA), conveyed the strong complaints of the RES investors who feel a strong sentiment of insecurity regarding the viability of their projects. Moreover, Mr. George Ftikas (Lawyer, KLC, Bulgaria), Mrs. Dilyana Ivanova (Partner, Ivanova & Ivanova Law Office, Bulgaria) and Mr. Nickolay Kiskinov (Lawyer, Penkov, Markov & Partners, Bulgaria) stressed the damage now caused to the business climate in Bulgaria’s RES sector, and hence the discouragement caused to future investments.

On the other hand, the third session of "Bulgaria’s Green Energy Challenge” workshop provided a tone of optimism, focusing on the encouraging prospects of energy efficiency, especially in the building sector. The presentations by Mr. Nikola Kaloyanov (Deputy Dean of Technical University Sofia &Member of Board of Directors of BGBC) and Mr. Krasimir Naydenov, Director of Directorate "Information and Analysis", Sustainable Energy Development Agency -SEDA)) provided a very informative view on the energy efficiency policies in Bulgaria, both in domestic and industrial facilities.

IENE’s workshop on "Bulgaria’s Green Energy Challenge” concluded with the fourth session on innovative applications in biofuels, co-generation and smart-grid technologies in photovoltaics and other RES, with the participations of Mr. Branimir Dilkovski (Partner, RSM Consulting, Bulgaria), Mr. Kostas Theofylaktos (Chairman, Hellenic Association for the Cogeneration of Heat and Power, Greece), Mr. MarkAnthony Chesner (Director - Project Development of The National Association for Transfer of Technologies, Bulgaria).

This IENE event in Bulgaria was sponsored by Sky Solar Bulgaria and EKO Bulgaria while www.energia.grwas the Workshop’s media sponsor.