Bulgaria plans to cut guaranteed
rates for electricity generated from new solar power parks by an
average of 30 percent from September after halving the feed-in
tariffs in late June, the energy regulator said on Thursday.
The State Energy and Water Regulatory
Commission will seek
the reductions as a solar boom fuelled by generous guaranteed
rates threatens to boost consumer prices and strain the power
grid in the European Union's poorest country.
Less
than a month after drastic cuts to incentives for
photovoltaic parks, the regulator has now proposed cuts of about
35 percent for bigger installations on roofs and by 28 percent
for solar energy parks on the ground.
A
final decision on the cuts is expected in two weeks, the
spokeswoman for the energy regulator said.
Renewable
energy investors, who have poured millions of
euros into solar parks in the Balkan nation have been highly
critical of the plan, saying it lacks transparency and vowing to
appeal.
"The new plans will kill
the solar energy business in
Bulgaria because, at the new tariff level, it does not make
sense to invest," said Nikola Gazdov, chairman of the Bulgarian
Photovoltaic Association.
Solar
energy parks in Bulgaria have mushroomed in the past
year after the government passed legislation guaranteeing
tariffs over a 20-year period for solar investors.
Companies such as United States-based AES
Corporation
, Russia's Lukoil, South Korea's SDN, Saudi
Arabia's ACWA Power and dozens of other German, Italian,
Japanese investors have rushed to take advantage of the
incentives and the abundant sunshine in the small southeast
European country.
The total
installed capacity of photovoltaic parks soared to
about 600 MW by the end of July, a huge gain from the 134 MW in
operation at the end of 2011, industry officials said.
The surge of solar parks, however, has
pushed consumer
prices up 13 percent in 2012 as the government seeks to recoup
the cost of the subsidies.
Power
prices are politically sensitive in Bulgaria, where
energy bills eat away a huge part of monthly incomes, especially
during winter months.
The
government is also considering whether to impose
additional taxes or fees on solar installations, as the Czech
Republic did in 2010 to deal with a solar boom.
The Czech Republic, Germany and
Spain have all cut their generous feed-in tariffs. In February the Czech
energy regulator said that it wanted to stop almost all incentives for
renewables as early as 2014.