By March next year, it is planned to have a working energy cooperative in Burgas

George Velev

The first large energy cooperative will be established in Burgas Municipality. In just a month, citizens and companies are expected to be able to participate in the construction of the first rooftop solar park, owned not only by the municipality of Burgas, but also by the people. The solar installation is the basis of the energy cooperative, which is being established in the city with the technical support of the partners from EnEffect and the municipality of Gabrovo. It is planned that the photovoltaic plant will be built on the roof of the swimming pool "Arena OZK", which is owned by the municipality. About 80-85% of the produced energy will be used for the needs of the pool, which works all year round.

The offer is for anyone who wants to participate financially in the project by setting aside between BGN 750 and BGN 10,000. There is also a guaranteed income for this project of 3%, which is within 10 years. All participants will not become richer, but society will have many benefits as a whole from the construction of the project, Dragomir Tsanev, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEfect, also explained during the presentation of the project.

The municipality will also be the owner of the facility, and will assume all the risks in the implementation of the project, explained the deputy mayor of Burgas, Chanka Koralska. "We rely a lot on the partners from EnEffect, who made analyzes and calculations. The swimming pool is a big consumer of energy all year round, recalled Koralska. People should enter the cooperative with desire and positivity and this should continue as a development for all of us, she added. The municipality is even ready to finance the project in case there is a lack of interest on the part of citizens and companies.

The investment is currently planned to be around BGN 410 thousand. The annual energy production will be about 552 MWh per year. Unused energy from the new park will be sold into the electricity distribution network for the project to generate additional revenue. It is planned that within the month of June the project will be approved by the municipal council in Burgas, and then the collection of funds from all interested parties will begin. The actual construction of the project and its commissioning is expected to happen by March 2025.

In a transparent way, by collecting bids in two rounds, bids were collected from companies supplying photovoltaic systems. Stanislav Andreev from EnEfect, who is actively working on the implementation of the project in Burgas, also explained that due to the continuous reduction of the panels on the world markets, there may also be a reduction in the value of the project.

In green solutions, we saw an opportunity, precisely in this energy cooperative. I believe that we will be able to realize this idea and develop it further in other different objects. Especially objects with a social and educational focus, explained the mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov. He was present during the announcement of the initiative today. Nikolov gave special thanks to the "EnEffect" team, who are "persistent and consistent" to make the idea of ​​the energy cooperative happen.

The challenge in Burgas is almost three times bigger than it was in Gabrovo, where the first energy community owned by a municipality was created. The financial indicators are much more attractive here in Burgas, Tsanev also explained during the presentation. Participation in the project is absolutely voluntary, and everyone will have the right to one vote in the future energy community, Stanislav Andreev specified.

Solar experts added that such an initiative has many benefits that are not just financial. Students from technical high schools will be able to view the project, get up close and personal with solar systems and inverters. The maintenance of the site should be done by local companies that can respond quickly in case of any defect. And all this will also create new jobs in Burgas, explained Ivaylo Stefanov, from the School for Solar Specialists, located in Gabrovo. Representatives of the Municipality of Gabrovo are also assisting the new energy cooperative with technical and legal knowledge so that the new entity can operate. It will be a type of company under the Law on Obligations and Contracts (CLOC).