The European Commission presented on Thursday recommendations for the economic development of the countries of the European Union. For Bulgaria, the Commission issued four recommendations, including reducing reliance on fossil fuels and accelerating the clean energy transition. According to the Commission, Bulgaria faces several challenges related to the decarbonisation of the economy and energy production, sustainable transport as well as quality of education and skills. These could be further addressed beyond the scope of the recovery and resilience plan and cohesion policy programmes.
Access to clean and affordable energy continues to be a priority issue in Bulgaria. While the country has made limited progress, further structural challenges remain. In particular, the postponed electricity market liberalisation – one of the essential decarbonisation reforms under the recovery and resilience plan – impedes the transition to clean and affordable energy. Further, the district heating systems in Bulgaria are often in poor technical condition, and most of them are predominantly based on natural gas or coal. In 2023, the deployment of solar photovoltaics saw a significant increase with over 1.2 GW in newly installed capacity, bringing the total to nearly 3 GW. However, the installed wind capacity has stagnated over the past decade, with a total of 700 MW in onshore installations. This is despite wind power potential to boost the electricity system balancing capacity during off-peak periods. Untapped technical potential of offshore wind energy is estimated at 26 GW20. At the same time, the lack of sufficient energy storage is increasingly evident, especially during sunny hours, posing a risk to the continuous deployment of grid-scale renewables in Bulgaria. Despite strong electricity interconnection with its neighbours, including a new 400 kV line with Greece (PCI Maritsa East-Nea Santa), bottlenecks to the transmission and distribution grids persist. Further action to improve the management of grids by introducing smart grid elements, including a roll-out of smart meters and demand-side response measures could improve the situation. While there have been slight improvements in energy poverty indicators in Bulgaria, significant challenges persist. The share of the population unable to adequately heat their homes was 22.5% in 2022, the highest rate within the EU, well above the EU average of 9.3%. Although Bulgaria has adopted an official definition for energy poverty, concrete support schemes are yet to be fully developed, with the current targeted heating allowance remaining limited in both duration and coverage, the Commission states in its recommendation.
Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are a significant concern for Bulgaria, particularly from road transport, where greenhouse gas emissions increased by 29% in 2022 (compared to 2005 levels). The use of passenger cars continues to be high, while the share of battery electric vehicles s still very low. In addition, the charging infrastructure is still insufficient, with just one charging point for every three electric vehicles, which impedes the uptake of electric mobility, the Commission added.
The European Commission recommends Bulgaria to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and accelerate the clean energy transition, particularly by shifting to renewable energy in district heating and deploying wind installations. To ensure sufficient storage capacities to increase the flexibility of the energy system. To strengthen the electricity grid infrastructure by introducing smart grid elements and increasing interconnection with neighbouring countries. To address energy poverty by implementing targeted measures to reduce the share of population unable to keep their homes adequately warm. To promote the deployment and uptake of sustainable urban and railway transport, including by accelerating the development of the necessary infrastructure.
Source: European Commission
