The Bulgarian authorities will suspend the operations of 40% of solar and wind
power plants due to non-compliance, the country’s energy ministry said on
Tuesday.
The suspension will be valid until renewable energy producers
begin to provide real-time information about the amount of energy they have
generated to the Central Dispatch Authority (CDA) with the country's Electricity
System Operator (ESO), as required by law, the ministry said in a statement,
quoting energy minister Assen Vassilev as saying.
Those violations make
it more difficult to manage the energy system, especially during overproduction,
Vassilev said.
The measure is part of a larger package which aims to
stabilise the country’s energy sector.
Vassilev said that Bulgaria’s
energy sector suffers from overcapacity and overproduction. He added that
Bulgaria has 12,000 megawatts in installed capacity, which are more than twice
the consumption of 4,700 MW and the exports of maximum 300 MW.
Another
proposal envisages changes to the rules for purchasing of energy produced by
factory power plants. They now sell their energy at preferential prices but buy
the quantities they need at lower prices from the energy suppliers. This
practice distorts the market and violates the EU directives, Vassilev
said.
ESO will also have to lower the country’s cold reserve to 840 MW
from 1,040 MW at present and find a way to abolish the restrictions on exports
of electricity to Turkey.
Other measures include acceleration of the
liberalisation of the energy market.