First Annual Recovery Plan meeting: Key topic of how to cut emissions by 40% by 2026 awaits report from Energy Transition Commission

Raya Lecheva

Bulgaria can receive the most funds for transition in the energy sector under the Recovery Plan, and this is 2.6 billion euros, announced at the First Annual Meeting for the Recovery Plan Johannes Lübking, chief advisor to the head of the working group for recovery and resilience, EC.

These are huge measures for buildings, for industry, tripling of investments in RES, energy storage, geothermal energy, green hydrogen, digitization of the electricity transmission network, but in order for Bulgaria to benefit, it must approach effectively. There is no requirement to close specific plants until 2026, Bulgaria has complete freedom and flexibility. The Commission considers the establishment of the Advisory Council for the European Green Deal and the Energy Transition Commission to support the implementation of the Plan to be a serious step, he said. But for us, the three elements are key-reforms, investments, decarbonization. But reforms are needed to ensure that the electricity grid is ready for the future.

Bulgaria has not adopted decarbonization measures outside of the plan, Lubking emphasized and gave the example of Romania and Greece, which are taking concrete steps in this direction. The topic of decarbonisation and a 40% reduction in emissions by 2026 caused the most controversy.

"Greece closed 4 of its coal plants and imports 350 megawatts from Bulgaria, shall we also import energy? We insist on the recovery and sustainability plan to drop a 40% reduction in emissions by 2026 compared to 2019," commented Ognyan Atanasov, vice president of KNSB. If there is someone in the hall, they can knock me down, but such a reduction cannot happen without the closure of coal-fired power plants in the Maritsa East complex.

On the topic of decarbonization by 40% by 2026, the Commission for Energy Transition has started to work, a platform in a working format ensures contribution and cooperation, even a clash of ideas, announced Iva Petrova, Deputy Minister of Economy. We expect her to prepare a report on how to achieve these goals and make recommendations to the National Assembly for a decision after a wider public debate, she added. The good thing is that there is a National Assembly that examines this topic.

Options for phasing out coal in 2030, 2038 are currently being discussed in the Energy Transition Commission. In both cases, in the next 7-8 years, 7-10 gigawatts of RES should enter the energy system of the country. If a later stage is chosen until 2040, we should already have the possibility of 15-17 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, said Maria Trifonova, the vice-president of the Energy Transition Commission and an expert at the Center for the Study of Democracy. But she did not say which option the Commission is going for, but emphasized that the report will present all the benefits and negatives of making each of these decisions. The Commission is expected to present its report by the end of the year.

In order to fulfill all the plans, we need to triple our ambitions, said Iva Petrova, Deputy Minister of Economy.

The Ministry of Energy proposed for public discussion changes to the Law on RES, which introduces acceleration, facilitation of procedures and accession. The investment for the digitalization of the electricity system is being carried out, which will absorb 4,500 megawatts of RES by 2026. By the end of the year, measures will be taken to implement the schemes for batteries, for the use of RES in households such as 10,000 households to change the way of heating. By the end of the year, the first scheme for energy-efficient lighting in the municipalities will be launched, we expect in all 74 municipalities that will be financed to achieve a 30% energy saving, explained Petrova.

Flexible storage systems, investment, are on the agenda for a working group to analyze the regulatory framework and propose amendments to introduce operators of storage facilities as a market participant, Petrova also said.

She also added important information about another key reform. The Commission for Energy Efficiency and Energy Poverty is at the final stage and has selected a criterion for energy poverty, and it will be included as an amendment to the Energy Act very soon, the Deputy Minister of Energy stressed.

The Ministry of Energy is also working on infrastructure and interconnection with neighboring countries until the end of the year.

Investments are a wonderful model through financial instruments, subsidies for energy storage and not all measures are related to free financing, said Rumen Radev, vice president of the employer organization Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria (AICB). According to Radev, the emphasis should be on speeding up the introduction of renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency in the household sphere, introduction of smart networks, energy storage systems by hours, by months, seasonal cycles, development of electromobility. Without having approaches to introduce RES into the network, we cannot say how we will remove power plants from coal, Radev specified.

According to Ognyan Atanasov, in order to achieve carbon neutrality, the Climate and Energy Plan must be quickly adopted by the end of the year and the energy strategy until 2030, and the Energy Transition Commission must issue a report and immediately proceed to approval by the National Assembly.

At the moment, more than 200 million BGN are paid for more than 300,000 households for coal and wood, which is a big problem, so it is obligatory and urgent to adopt the definition of energy poverty, commented Balin Balinov from Greenpeace, Bulgaria. Petrova said that very soon the definition will be presented in the National Assembly, because there is a consensus and there will be an opportunity to fill this deficit. According to the trade unions, the energy poor households should be supported not with 600 but with at least 1000 BGN. Atanasov warned that a 40% reduction in emissions means the closing of capacities, and the postponement of market liberalization will lead to 4 times higher electricity bills.