Bulgaria: New information system for the renewable energy sector

A new public information system is to be created about the potential production and consumption of energy from renewable sources in Bulgaria.

The new system will be available online and will create further predictability and transparency in the Bulgarian renewable energy sector.

The system is to be created by virtue of a new ordinance introduced on 22 May 2012, which also sets out conditions for the collection and disclosure of the information.

The information will be collected from all parts of the energy sector and published by the Sustainable Energy Development Agency and will include:

• actual production and consumption of energy from renewable sources compared to the targets set by EU law and introduced into Bulgarian law by the new Renewable Energy Sources Act (eg by 2020, for 16% of all energy consumed to come from renewable sources)

• mechanisms to support the consumption and production of energy from renewable energy sources (including national and EU support schemes)

• the procedure for reviewing applications to connect renewable energy projects to the electricity transmission and distribution grids and the heat distribution grid. Currently only projects with above 5 MW installed capacity are connected to the transmission grid, which is owned by the National Electricity Company. Projects up to 5 MW installed capacity are connected to the distribution grid, which is owned by the distribution companies EVN, CEZ and E.ON

• the procedure for reviewing applications to be issued guarantees of origin and licences for the production of energy from projects using renewable technology (the license is required for projects with installed capacity above 5 MW)

• the production of energy and gas from renewable sources

• the consumption of energy produced from renewable sources

• forecasts for the construction of new capacity for the production of energy from renewable sources. This is a vital piece of data, as the poor quality of Bulgaria's transmission and distribution grid is widely acknowledged as a major obstacle to development of the sector

• the prices of biomass used for energy production, as well as its quantitative and qualitative indicators;

Law: Ordinance for the Collecting and Granting of Information by a National Information System for the Potential, Production and Consumption of Energy from Renewable Sources in Bulgaria