A recent change in the tariff policy of Bulgaria's energy regulator spells more losses for the country's power distributors as the financial burden of the regulatory support scheme for green energy shifts away from power grid operator NEK.
Previously, the power distributors used to purchase the generated green energy and then sent the invoices to NEK which covered the additional costs in case of overproduction. Now, NEK will cover the cost of green energy only up to the production forecasts submitted by the power distributors, newspaper Sega reported on Tuesday.
And since green energy output often exceeds initial targets, the power distributors will be saddled with the extra costs.
EVN Bulgaria Elektrosnabdqvane seems to be hardest-hit so far, posting a loss of 27 million levs in July after operating in the black the previous few months. The company's performance suffers from the fact its service area is currently home to the bulk of solar capacity in the country.
The other two of the country's power distributors - CEZ Bulgaria and Energo-Pro, told Sega they also incurred losses in July.