The Bulgarian Government has approved the enforcement of limitations on the
construction of solar panels and wind turbine parks on agricultural land, a
Government media statement announced on April 7 2010.
The amendment to the bill for the protection of agricultural land will be
submitted to Parliament. The amendment envisages curtailing construction of
renewable energy infrastructure in arable lands and irrigation fields in order
to conserve the lands for farming purposes.
The exploitation of lands from first, through to fourth category, and the
subsequent construction of renewable energy infrastructure on these plots, will
be centrally controlled from now on, and not at a local or municipal level, as
is the current case.
The law also envisages that "any decision taken by the commission would
be invalidated, if during the course of a year upon its (decision)
implementation for any given parcel of land, no change of application for that
parcel was requested".
Disagreements between farmers and wind park investors over changes to the
proposed Agriculture Ministry amendment have raged interminably.
The problem revolves around the rich farmlands of northeastern Bulgaria,
the region known as Dobruzha, where a number of wind parks have been
constructed in recent years and more are planned.
The proposal was backed by farmers in the Dobruzha region who want an end
to the erection of wind parks or solar panel parks on the rich soil of the
northeast.
According to Radoslav Hristov, head of the wheat producers in Bulgaria, if
the Government does not act now to prevent more parks sprouting up in the
region, "there will be no agricultural land left for cultivation and
agriculture".
Investors in renewable energy sources, on the other hand, agreed that
arable land should be preserved for the agricultural sector, but were
"categorically against the ban being implemented if it addressed the issue
of wind parks exclusively".
The Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, and other
associated companies in the industry, responded that the "proposed new
amendments to the agricultural bill are discriminatory against the
industry".