Decentralized power generation is at the heart of the rapid development of the renewable energy sector in Europe. The success of the energy transition will depend on the active role of citizens, local communities and small and medium-sized businesses, who will no longer be passive energy consumers but will become active investors and producers. In Bulgaria, the process of democratization and decentralization faces significant challenges, such as bottlenecks in grid connection and complex, bureaucratic procedures accompanying the issue of environmental and construction permits for renewable energy projects.
These are some of the findings from CSD’s latest analysis, launched during a round table on Fast-tracking RES: Removing Barriers to Decentralization and Democratization of the Energy Transition in Bulgaria on 27 February in Sofia.
In addition to the CSD team, the discussion featured Nikolay Nalbantov, Director, Energy Strategies and Policies for Sustainable Energy Development at the Ministry of Energy, Ivan Ivanov, Chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), Ivaylo Aleksiev, Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy Development Agency, Vera Karabashlieva, Team Leader, Energy Policy at EVN Bulgaria, and Todor Popov, Director of the Administrative, Legal and Information Services Directorate at the Municipality of Gabrovo.
Mr. Nalbantov announced that in 2024 there will be two consecutive amendments to the Renewable Energy Act aiming to transpose the new Directive 2023/2413 (RED III). Dr. Ivanov insisted that there is enormous demand for the deployment of new renewable energy capacities, but at the same time, he stressed that only in the last 5 months the energy regulator has received nearly 100 complaints against the electricity distribution companies, which had refused to connect the new generation units due to lack of grid capacity. Related to this bottleneck, Ms. Karabashlieva stressed that financial and political resources should be committed to the expansion and modernization of the distribution networks, in which process the distribution companies themselves are struggling to overcome administrative and regulatory obstacles.
All speakers united behind the conclusion that there is a need for a long-term strategy for the renewables sector that focuses on decentralization and democratization of the energy market rather than on mega infrastructure projects with a lack of clear economic feasibility. Electricity distribution networks were identified as the backbone of the energy transition and speakers agreed on the need for more investment in the grid’s modernization, digitalization and expansion.
