Phantom energy companies drain government funds

Thermal power plant operators AES and ContourGlobal, alongside renewable energy sources, will remain the primary sources in the energy mix of Bulgaria, a recent document shows.

The latest pricing changes show that AES’s Maritsa Iztok-1 and ContourGlobal’s Maritsa Iztok-3 set their share in the system at 20% and 25.2%, respectively, 3e-news.net reported. Meanwhile, according to an article by Standart News, much of the money from electricity bills is sinking into the pockets of the energy mafia, data in the report of a temporary committee on the topic show.

Renewables, the most expensive energy, which had preferential status for years, form 18.8% of the mix, news agency Novinite said in a report. State-owned Maritsa Iztok-2 thermal power plant and nuclear turbines at Kozloduy have seen a substantial decrease in their respective shares, now at 4.1% and 6.7%.

This comes, however, just after the government had explained it would take Maritsa Iztok 2 out of the regulated market. The rest is generated by heating utilities 16.3% and the hydropower plant owned by the National Electricity Company (NEK),  8.75%.

The state buys electricity at preferential prices of four photovoltaic plants, which do not exist at all and as such never received permission to operate, the article said. Another five were selling electricity for months before obtaining a permit to operate, the portal claims, citing the temporary committee’s document.