site.btaBusiness Execs, Academics Discuss Renewables, Low-Carbon Technologies

At the Green Transition Forum 4.0 here on Thursday, business executives, academics and a Bulgarian deputy energy minister discussed the future of the energy industry with a focus on renewable energy sources and low-carbon technologies.

The three-day event is organized by Dir.bg and 3E News, with BTA as a media partner.

Caretaker Deputy Energy Minister Iva Petrova said that in recent months her Ministry's teams came up with a draft of a Strategy for Sustainable Energy Development and an updated National Energy and Climate Plan. The two documents were developed with the contribution of various stakeholders and reflect the heightened ambitions within the framework of the Green Package and the specific recommendations to Bulgaria. 

"It is a shared challenge for the EU, but the specific measures must be geared to the resources and capabilities available to each Member State," the Deputy Minister said. In her words, the long-term objective is secure supplies and sustainable energy at prices affordable to consumers.

The Strategy targets maximizing the potential of renewable energy sources with the gradual introduction of flexible energy production capacities and the phasing out of fossil fuels, Petrova said.

The models with the Strategy and the updated Plan call for nearly treble increase of renewable energy sources, new nuclear capacities to be commissioned by 2035-2040, and new pumped-storage hydroelectric power plants in the system, she added.

The Deputy Minister noted that energy efficiency and the possibility to set up energy communities involving final customers are the focus as far as consumers are concerned. At this point, support is available to households for photovoltaics. The 2,000 proposals received in response to the first call are being assessed. The number and types of projects to be supported will be clear within two months, she specified. 

Chamber of Energy Communities in Bulgaria Executive Director Elenko Bozhkov said that the options for setting up an energy community have already been legislated. "As household consumers, we use 12 million MWh, but we are capable of producing 14 million MWh from 90 million sq m of rooftop photovoltaics countrywide," he specified.

Union of the Electricity Industry (Eurelectric) Secretary General Kristian Ruby said that the Green Deal does not slow down even after the early-June European Parliament elections. Legislation is in progress, and there is a search for clear technologies. Arguably, not everything is seamless, but the Green Deal is obviously making headway, and reaching the planned target is a matter of time. This year, the share of clean energy in the energy mix so far adds up to 74%, of which renewables contribute 51% and the rest comes from nuclear power, Ruby pointed out. 

He argued for the need of investments by operators in Europe's energy grids because most of them are over 40 years old.

Brussels Energy Club Director Nadezda Kokotovic highlighted the grid problems in the Western Balkans. She noted that on Friday Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced a 34-hour-long power cut. "The transmission network operators were overloaded, it was very hot, but anybody who knows the region is aware that the reasons are for deeper and are of a systemic nature. There are no planning of what will happen in the near future," Kokotovic said.

Bozidar Dedus, Co-Founder of the Croatian Association for Development and Application of Hydrogen Fuel Cells, shared his country's experience. Solar power is a green energy source and is currently employed to balance the energy system. Unfortunately, wind is not used to a sufficient extent. Geothermal energy sources are being explored, and nuclear capacities are available, too, he pointed out.

In his words, for some time now Croatia has been asserting itself ever more as a part of the backbone of the European energy system.

Franck Neel, Member of the Executive Board of OMV Petrom, Romania, said that his company wants to be an energy transition pioneer in Southeastern Europe. "We are implementing renewable energy projects and transport decarbonization project," he said, adding that OMV Petrom targets exploiting new gas fields in the region, which is crucial for the coal-to-gas switch. Romania has exploitable offshore fields and Bulgaria has explorable offshore fields, he pointed out. His company is planning to increase the number of its electric vehicle charging stations to 5,000.