Concrete steps to build a national infrastructure of charging stations for electric cars were discussed at a meeting in ESO by representatives of municipalities, two ministries and API

Mayors of 10 municipalities from all over the country, the Deputy Minister of Energy Iva Petrova, the Deputy Minister of the Regional Department Angelina Boneva, representatives of the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria and the Road Infrastructure Agency held a working meeting in ESO to identify concrete steps for construction of a national infrastructure of charging stations for electric vehicles near the substations of the electricity transmission operator. The project of the Electric Power System Operator plans to build nearly 250 charging stations for electric vehicles with electricity produced from emission-free sources within 5 years throughout the country.

The executive director of ESO Angelin Tsachev emphasized that the efforts of the institutions should be united to support the mass penetration of electric vehicles. "We expect the municipalities to encourage the construction of the national infrastructure by providing land near the substations of the electricity transmission operator, and ESO will provide the necessary capacity and the infrastructure leading to the charging stations," pointed out Angelin Tsachev.

The Deputy Minister of Energy, Iva Petrova, pointed out that the Ministry of Energy has supported the ESO initiative from the very beginning and identified the national coverage of the charging infrastructure and the integrated approach, which will lead to substantial cost savings, as major advantages of the project.

The ESO project was also welcomed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works represented by Deputy Minister Angelina Boneva. Angelina Boneva expressed appreciation for the adequate initiative of the electric transmission operator and called for greater operational efficiency and joint actions between the interested parties for the construction of the national infrastructure of charging stations for electric vehicles in a short period of time.

ESO operates 300 substations, which enables the charging infrastructure to be national in scope. The goal is for the national infrastructure of charging stations to ensure the service of electric vehicles, as well as to build a network of hydrogen charging stations for public transport vehicles and heavy goods transport at key locations in the country. It is planned to build 11 hydrogen charging stations on the incoming border arteries connecting the Republic of Bulgaria with Romania, Greece, Serbia, Turkey and North Macedonia, as well as in the cities of Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Veliko Tarnovo, Varna and Burgas.

The total value of the project is EUR 93 million. To ensure the implementation of the investment, ESO applied for financing from the Modernization Fund.

The national charging infrastructure will facilitate the utilization of electricity from renewable sources and the development of ecological transport throughout the country, including in settlements remote from the main road arteries.