Experts: The energy system needs to be seen as a whole and needs a new pace

Europe is not giving up and will not give up on the green deal. By all accounts, the expectations of the industry are for a different type of European Commission to create legislation with its participation. The Bulgarian industry has many issues related to the sector of renewable energy sources, critical minerals, nuclear energy, batteries for (energy) storage, new hydrogen technologies, CO2 capture and storage, which it is ready to develop. The reservations are due to problems that have been overlooked or without a clear solution at the European level. This became clear during the conference "Energy security - a basis for the development of the European industry. The role of Bulgaria", organized by the MEP from BSP and the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament Tsvetelina Penkova. Some of the issues raised have been resolved, but there are still obstacles or misunderstandings that need to be resolved. In her comment, the vice-president of BSK, Maria Mincheva, emphasized the need to reach an industrial deal that would be common to the entire EU. She raised the question of a new type of legislation in which the industry would be actively involved, including in matters governing how the implementation of this legislation would occur.

Bulgaria can really play a key role in determining the energy policies of the European Union", noted MEP Tsvetelina Penkova at the opening of the conference, explicitly emphasizing that "Without Bulgarian participation, nuclear energy would not have been recognized as a strategic technology. Without the Bulgarian participation, there would be no additional financing, which guarantees that the new productions will not go only to the big countries that can afford to provide state aid". Penkova reminded that our country has a strategic advantage in several key areas and should emphasize them. "The nuclear sector in Bulgaria has one of the highest recognized safety standards worldwide. Bulgaria has the largest power capacity in the region and this can make us a major factor in terms of energy connectivity," Penkova also said.

For the future energy mix and industry

According to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Eurohold Bulgaria, Asen Hristov, the European Parliament and the European Commission during the next mandate should properly plan the expansion of renewable energy sources and the distribution of their mix in the future. He did not miss the importance of nuclear energy, but in the context of Europe and European industry. "Nuclear power is indeed the future, but it is positioned differently in the 27 countries and therefore remains at the national level. Each country takes care of the financing and construction of nuclear power plants, but this should change and there should be support and a development plan at the level of the European Union," Hristov said. In this regard, he made an interesting comparison between the construction of new nuclear facilities in neighboring Turkey using Russian technology, the upcoming construction of units 7 and 8 of the Kozloduy NPP, also using non-EU technology, with the presence of a highly developed French nuclear industry, and expressed the opinion that the EU must decide on the planning of the European nuclear sector, and in such a way that it is not concentrated in just one country.

I don't want to talk about re-industrialisation of the EU. Decarbonization is a very good thing. This was stated by the CEO of KCM 2000 Holding Rumen Tsonev. According to him, the metallurgical sector he represents in Bulgaria, which produces 150,000 tons of metal such as lead and zinc (75,000 for each) annually, has achieved a 50% reduction in carbon emissions (CO2) with modern chemical technologies. We are doing what is necessary to achieve everything in the circular economy, which cannot happen without the participation of the industry. "Recycling is not a circular economy", reminded Tsonev at the same time, who was adamant that without heavy chemistry and metallurgy, there is no way to achieve the green deal. "An industry of this type can hardly work with electricity from renewable energy sources. Baseline energy is needed on the path we've taken," he stated. The executive director of KCM was critical in his opinion about the EU's decision to store energy with lithium-ion batteries. "The problem is that the possibility of energy storage with lead-acid batteries is not being addressed in the EU," he said. According to him, Europe is currently focusing on energy storage with lithium-ion batteries, but without thinking and setting conditions for their recycling, while the lead-acid batteries produced by KCM are completely recyclable. "We are giving our children a problem that cannot be solved by us," he reminded. Tsonev did not spare his criticism of the projects for the construction of RES capacities (incl. Ministry of Energy for BGN 430 million), in which there are no requirements for recycling at all. Rumen Tsonev's conclusion was that these funds will not go to the Bulgarian economy at all. Funds will go into it only for the people who built the respective RES-parks.

According to Blagoi Burdin from the Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems at the BAS, both batteries and hydrogen have their place, and we should not focus on a certain technology and rely on it to do its job.

Batteries work up to a few hours, if we want more renewables in a seasonal aspect and on a terawatt-hour scale, the only viable solution is hydrogen," he believes.

Solar energy remains the cheapest. Its production is increasing every year. Businesses want cheap energy, said Dries Eyck, Director of Public Policy at SolarPowerEurope. The construction of solar power plants is currently the easiest, fastest and most profitable, he explained, recalling the recently signed purchase agreements under PPA contracts in Bulgaria as well. Enterprises need energy security and renewable energy sources provide it, while they can also play the role of base capacities, Dries Eik believes. According to him, discussions about nuclear energy should be based on facts and not at the expense of other sectors, and our country should rethink its plans and think about the development and storage of solar energy. Moreover, a good network is also a prerequisite for this.

The chairman of BFIEC, Konstantin Stamenov, for his part, calculated that the difference between the production from RES and the need of the industry it represents in hourly terms is about 5,000 hours. He reminded that the design of Bulgaria's electricity network was built on the basis of industry, while now this is no longer the case.

Nuclear energy and RES together

Europe must use all sources to achieve the goals of the energy transition and decarbonization of the system. What they will be, so that an energy balance is achieved, national states decide. This was commented by the Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Energy "Energy" at the European Commission, Massimo Gariba, who recalled the creation of a nuclear alliance, not forgetting to recall that the institution pays attention to new technologies - small modular reactors (SRM) and the energy of the future as fusion. In this context, he also raised the question of the need to build a huge industrial capacity, but also human capacity.

I'm all for the development of renewables, but they are "only a supplement" to base energy. Nuclear energy is considered practically independent, especially if it is possible to use uranium ore, which can be processed separately, and accordingly, an opportunity was given for the development of fourth generation nuclear reactors. This was stated by the chairman of Bulatom Bogomil Manchev. He reminded that the carbon intensity of nuclear energy is even lower than that of water. With all RES, emissions have so far been reduced by 1.7%, but if these resources for RES were invested in nuclear energy, this reduction would be 47%, Manchev said. He did not fail to remind that the state did not build the Belene NPP for BGN 8 billion, and now it will build a power plant for BGN 15 billion. At the same time, he was categorical that the nuclear capacities set for construction must be implemented, that refers to small modular reactors (SRMs), they can play the role of accompanying for industrial users. As the chairman of "Bulatom" expressed, for now MMR are still "on the books". In 1986, the US decided not to develop nuclear power and bet on oil, and they were wrong. The Eastern world continued to work on nuclear energy and China can afford to build 25 energy units, commented Manchev, emphasizing the need to make a reasonable decision.

Ivan Hinovski, the chairman of the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum (BEMF), identified four challenges facing the energy sector, including the nuclear sector. Among them are simplification and acceleration of the legal framework regarding nuclear energy, creation of a common investment club for technology exchange, fair treatment of nuclear energy and RES, reduction of Russian dependence. "There should not be a debate - nuclear energy or RES. We need both," Hinowski said, but reminded that some experts, when they talk about how cheap renewables are, forget to include the money spent on upgrading the power grid. Hinovski was also adamant that "nuclear energy must be isolated from the interference of politics."

The objectives for the European economy as a whole are associated with many challenges. They are not small for us either. The very transition from a centralized model to a decentralized one is a big challenge. In addition, the management of this model. The efficient use of renewable energy sources is already weighing on the whole, said ESO Executive Director Angelin Tsachev.

According to him, in 2024 they will be added new 1000 MW RES capacity, in 2025 another 800-1000 MW, but the question is whether this energy will be used by business or will appear as a surplus.

Our region has solar, water and wind resources, but before we use them, it is important how sustainable the energy from them is, so that we can connect it to the system, he said.

We are left to find a place to store the energy, batteries have the potential, but not for industrial amounts of electricity. This is where countries should take steps and give signals for the construction of such systems for storing industrial amounts of energy," Tsachev said. The director of ESO also commented on the need to create corridors for the transmission of RES energy. He once again defended his thesis on the need for nuclear power.

In their speeches, the experts came to the conclusion that the energy system should be considered as a whole, but it needs a new pace.