Bulgaria to install 2.5 GW of solar, wind by 2024

Bulgaria will increase the installed capacity for renewable energy from 1.8 GW to 4.3 GW by 2024.

Solar power plants accounted for 1.1 GW at the end of 2020 while wind farms had 700 MW in total, said Angelin Tsachev, the executive director of the transmission system operator Electricity System Operator (ESO).

1.8 GW of renewables makes up 20% of all installed capacity for electricity production

The installed capacity for renewables is about 1.8 MW, which is about 20% of all installed capacity for electricity production in the country, national radio BNR reported.

In 2020, these power plants produced more electricity than contracted for preferential prices, and the remaining electricity was sold on the free market, Tsachev added.

According to Tsachev, last year 77 MW of solar capacity was installed while another 114 MW will be connected this year.

Over the next four years, wind farms of 700 MW, solar parks of 1.6 GW and 219 MW in biomass capacity will be installed

It is projected that in the period 2020-2024, wind farms of 700 MW, solar parks of 1.6 GW and 219 MW in biomass capacity will be installed in Bulgaria, he said.

Tsachev said that electricity from all new capacities will be sold on the market.

“I assume that every investor has developed a market model for such a large capacity,” he added.

According to Bulgaria’s National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), the country plans to increase the share of renewables in gross final consumption of energy from 21.4% in 2020 to 27.9% in 2030.