Bulgaria plans to overcome its overwhelming dependence on Russian energy by building new gas pipeline links with neighboring Greece, Romania, Turkey and Serbia, a draft energy strategy showed yesterday. It is also seeking Western investors for a planned new nuclear power plant at Belene and aims to fight climate change more effectively as well as improving energy efficiency. “Bulgaria secures 70 percent of its gross energy consumption from imports.
The dependence on imports of natural gas, crude oil and nuclear fuel... is traditionally linked with the Russian Federation,” the strategy up to 2020 said. Sofia plans to have the new gas links ready by 2013, which will allow supplies of Azeri gas to Bulgaria, as well as shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from producers such as Algeria, Egypt, Oman and Nigeria.
It will also work toward building a new LNG terminal in northern Greece and negotiate the delivery of compressed natural gas by tankers through the Black Sea from Azerbaijan, the plan, expected to be approved next month, said. The center-right government, which has put on hold the building of a new 2,000-megawatt Belene nuclear power project, said it will support nuclear energy but indicated it will not invest in it.