site.btaUPDATED Energy Minister Says Households Will be Compensated At Least Until 2026 After Electricity Price Liberalisation

Energy Minister Rumen Radev said in an interview for 24 Chasa that the state will compensate households following liberalisation of the price of their electricity. He stressed that household electricity prices at the moment are so far out of line with the market that after liberalization in 2025 further measures are needed to compensate household consumers. 

He noted that despite the double-digit inflation, the state maintained electricity prices for household consumers through 2022, with an "insignificant" adjustment of 4.37% in 2023. According to him, it is a "tremendous success", achieved at the expense of resources generated by the energy sector. 

He said that the electricity produced by the new unit is expected to be below EUR 70 per megawatt-hour, but the estimations are still preliminary. He noted that the long-term storage of high-level radioactive waste is also relevant.

Radev expressed hope that the new unit at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant will be put into operation at the end of 2034. Asked about the deadlines for the implementation of the unit's construction, Radev said that the results of a study done by Westinghouse should be ready by March. The Kozloduy NPP - New Builds project company is gathering Bulgarian specialists from all over the world for this project, and the site and supply logistics are in preparation, he said. His Ministry has started working with the National Railway Company on designing the railway line to Kozloduy. According to him, the project would be positive for the whole region. 

The AP1000 technology that is used in the project is advanced, meeting the highest safety and operational standards, Radev said. It also enables optimal production and control modes. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure is currently being prepared for Unit VIII. The commissioning of the two units will be 2-3 years apart. The state is looking for a construction contractor with a fixed term and fixed price, he noted.

Asked about the implementation of the construction procedure, Radev said that the execution of the contract for the first phase in engineering, the technical design for the nuclear island, and the safety analyses are expected to be completed by July 30, 2025, in order to proceed to obtain the construction permit. "I hope that, by then, we will have finalised negotiations to secure the necessary external financing. The aim is to proceed with the final investment decision by August 31, 2025. Only then do I consider it correct to award the procurement of the equipment," he said. 

Initial construction work will start once the technical design for the non-nuclear part has been approved. A deadline of December 31, 2028 has been set for the completion of ground works at the site. One of the intermediate deadlines is on July 1, 2029, when preparatory activities should be completed, and actual construction will begin. If all goes to schedule, commercial operation of Unit VII should be possible by December 31, 2034.

Commenting on the Belene NPP, which never reached operation, Radev said that the site is a valuable asset to Bulgaria, but he said he found it "extremely inappropriate to comment on any technology for a future NPP". According to him, the next generation should be trusted in deciding the future of the plant, and efforts should be now focused on the Kozloduy NPP. 

Regarding Bulgaria's coal mines, Radev noted that coal production depends on consumption. He said that after a series of meetings over the past few months with all stakeholders, operators have come up with a vision and a plan for future operations, and the state is aligning the opportunities of the coal complex based on said perspectives.

Radev noted that 2038 is the estimated deadline for completing the concession contract, which he stressed does not mean the suspension of activities. He said that a vast amount of work has to be done to restore the land and that there is the key question of what to do with it, whether it will become agricultural land, forestry land, or whether industrial activities will be developed there.

According to him, the land is suitable not only for power generation but also for industrial activities, which will consume the electricity generated and even require additional supply. "It is the same with hydrogen production. The right approach is to export finished products - that is the long high-added value chain that brings wealth. Not to boast that we export electricity to countries that produce and are therefore rich", he said.