The amendments to the Renewable Energy Act have been promulgated in the State Gazette

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The amendments to the Renewable Energy Act, submitted by the Council of Ministers on 13 April, were promulgated in issue 86 of the State Gazette of 13 October 2023.

We would like to bring to your attention the most important changes to the Renewable Energy Act:

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) shall set preferential prices for the purchase of electricity from renewable sources produced by energy sites with a total installed capacity of up to and including 30 kW, which are to be built on roof and facade structures of buildings connected to the electricity distribution network and on real estate in urban areas. So far, the EWRC has set preferential prices for the purchase of electricity from renewable energy sources produced by energy sites with a total installed capacity of less than 500 kW.

Upon submission of an application for the issuance of a building permit for the construction of an installation for the production of electricity from solar energy for own consumption with a total installed capacity of 20 kW to 50 kW in existing buildings and constructions in urban areas, including on their roof and facade structures and in their adjacent land properties, and in the absence of a response from the chief architect of the municipality within one month, the building permit shall be deemed to have been issued under the terms of Art. 4(3) of Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2577 of 22 December 2022 laying down a framework for the acceleration of the deployment of energy from renewable sources (OB, L 335/36 of 29 December 2022), provided that the total installed capacity of the solar electricity production site does not exceed the capacity granted for the connection of the building/structure as a customer site.

For the energy sites for the production of electricity from renewable sources with total installed capacity up to and including 1 MW, which are planned to be built on roof and facade structures of buildings connected to the electricity distribution or closed electricity distribution network and on real estates connected to them in urbanized areas, a statement on the conditions and method of connection shall be issued within the terms up to:

1. 15 days - when the place of connection of the energy sites up to and including 30 kW, which are planned to be constructed on roof and facade structures of buildings connected to the electricity distribution network and on real estates in urbanized areas coincides with the place where the metering device for the consumed electricity is installed in the cases when the installed capacity does not exceed the capacity provided for the connection of the building as a consumer site;
2. 20 days for energy sites with a total installed capacity up to and including 30 kW, except for energy sites referred to in point 1;
3. 40 days for energy sites with a total installed capacity of 30 kW up to 1 MW.

The term of the procedures for connection of an energy site from the submission of the request for a statement on the conditions and method of connection to the conclusion of the connection contract is 6 months. This period shall not include the design and construction of the connection facility, the reconstruction and modernisation of the electricity networks related to the construction of the relevant renewable energy site. The time limit may be extended by the producer within the period of validity of the statement issued and the preliminary contract concluded.

Within three months from the receipt of the statement on the conditions and the method of connection on submitted requests for the study of the conditions and the method of connection, the producer of electricity from renewable sources shall provide in favour of the operator of the relevant electricity grid a guarantee in the form of a deposit or a bank guarantee in the amount of BGN 50 000 for each megawatt (MW) of connected capacity of the future energy site. In case the producer fails to provide the due guarantee within the specified period, the statement shall be considered invalid. In the cases referred to in Article 26(8) or in Article 26(4)(1) or (2) of the Renewable Energy Act, in case of failure to submit a request for conclusion of a connection contract within the deadline, the guarantee shall be returned to the producer. In case of conclusion of a pre-connection contract or a connection contract, the guarantee shall secure the fulfilment of the obligations of the electricity producer in relation to the connection of the site. The guarantee provided by the producer shall be released upon connection of the site and the relevant operator may set off against the connection price payable by the producer up to the amount of the lesser of the two counter obligations. The guarantee shall not be provided by persons referred to in Article 26, par. 15 of the Renewable Energy Act and by producers referred to in Article 26a of the Renewable Energy Act, where the total connected capacity is not changed.

In the event that the connection of a site of an electricity distribution network operator requires an extension or reconstruction in the electricity transmission network, the electricity transmission network operator may offer to the electricity distribution network operator a connection under a temporary access scheme for all or part of the requested capacity of the site, to be applied until the extension or reconstruction is carried out. In order to ensure the security of the electricity system, the electricity transmission system operator may order the electricity distribution system operator to impose restrictions on the use of sites connected to the electricity distribution network for the duration of the temporary connection scheme. Restrictions may only be imposed on sites which, with the consent of their owners, are connected to the electricity distribution network under a temporary access scheme for the site of the electricity distribution network operator. In such cases, the transmission system operator and the distribution system operator shall not be liable for any damage suffered by the owners of the sites as a result of the restrictions imposed.

For a period of one calendar year, the Electricity System Security Fund shall pay premiums to producers of electricity from renewable energy sources under Art. 1 of the Energy Act for the quantities of electricity produced by them for which it has been established that:

1. the amount of electricity produced by the producer reaches the amount of its determined net specific production of electricity on the basis of which its preferential price was determined, or;
2. the total amount of revenues from electricity sold and premiums for the producer reaches a value calculated on the basis of its determined net specific electricity production and the preferential price determined on that basis.

An end customer can become a consumer of its own electricity from renewable sources. A consumer of own electricity from renewable sources may:

1. generate and store its own renewable electricity and sell its surplus renewable electricity through renewable power purchase agreements, through electricity suppliers and through peer-to-peer electricity trading agreements;
2. install and operate an electricity storage facility in conjunction with a renewable electricity generation facility for its own consumption, without being obliged to pay for the use of the grid for the connection of the electricity storage facilities within its property;
3. retain his rights and obligations as a final customer of electricity;
4. sell the surplus electricity it produces as an equal participant in the electricity market under the conditions and for a fee set out in the Energy Act and its subsidiary regulations at market prices and under support schemes for electricity produced and sold from renewable sources.

Consumers of self-generated electricity from renewable sources located in the same building, including a residential building, shall have the right to participate as joint consumers of self-generated electricity from renewable sources and may share with each other the self-generated electricity from renewable sources produced by an installation or installations for the generation of electricity in the building, subject to the rights and obligations of each consumer of self-generated electricity from renewable sources, without prejudice to payments for the use of the grid and the corresponding taxes and charges applicable to each user of its own electricity from renewable sources. Consumers of own electricity from renewable energy sources shall regulate their relationship with the transmission and/or the relevant electricity distribution/closed grid operator for the use of the grid under the conditions laid down in the rules referred to in Article 91(2) of the Energy Act.

End-use customers, including residential customers, may participate in a renewable energy community without losing their rights or obligations as end-use customers and without being subject to unreasonable or discriminatory conditions or procedures that would prevent their participation in a renewable energy community. Where undertakings participate, their participation shall not be related to their main commercial or occupational activity. Renewable energy communities:

1. may produce, consume, store and sell surplus renewable energy as an equal participant in energy markets under the conditions set out in the Energy Act, including through power purchase agreements;
2. may share within the renewable energy community the energy produced by installations owned by the renewable energy community, subject to the rights and obligations of the members of the renewable energy community as consumers;
3. have access in a non-discriminatory manner to all relevant energy markets.

For renewable energy communities, the requirements of Article 92b of the Energy Act shall apply accordingly.


The promulgated texts of the Law on the amendment and supplement to the Renewable Energy Act can be found HERE.