In 2023: Crash in electricity exports - down 72.5%. Huge increase in production from large PVs A collapse in the export of electricity by 72.5% was recorded by the Electricity System Operator from January 1 to December 31, 2023. This also puts pressure on the production of electricity, which decreases by 20.76 percent, especially at the base plants - Tetsov and NPP , with 25.66 percent. Total production is 39.95 million megawatt-hours, up from 50.42 million in 2022, which was a crisis in terms of gas and electricity supplies and even coal-fired plants were operating at maximum capacity. In our country, the use of electricity has decreased by 4.17%, which is a sustainable trend. It was 36.58 million megawatt hours, compared to 38.17 million in 2022. A huge jump was registered in the current of large photovoltaics connected to the transmission system, the growth was 145.24%, or in 2022 they produced 654 thousand . megawatt hours, 1.6 million, large renewable energy sources have increased their current on the market by 59.5 percent. RES connected to the distribution network, i.e. the small ones, increased their production by 13.74 percent, for photovoltaics the growth was 21.54%.
Source: Duma (08.01.2024)

Imports outpaced electricity exports in the first seven days of 2024 Imports outpaced electricity exports in the first seven days of 2024, data from the Electricity System Operator (ESO) show. The balance (export-import) of electricity decreased by 109.58% for the period January 1, 2024 - January 7, 2024 compared to January 1, 2023 - January 7, 2023. If for the first seven days of 2023 the balance ( export-import) was positive in the amount of 153,243 megawatt hours (MWh), then for the first seven days of the new year 2024, it was negative and amounted to 14,682 MWh. This means that in the first days of 2024, Bulgaria imported more electricity than it exported. Electricity production in Bulgaria decreased by 18.89% for the period January 1, 2024 - January 7, 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. From the beginning of the year to January 7, 754,028 megawatt hours were produced, while for the same period last year, the electricity produced was 929,693 megawatt hours. From January 1 to January 7 this year, electricity consumption in the country decreased by 1%. For the first seven days of the year, 768,710 megawatt hours were consumed, while in the same period last year, consumption was 776,45 megawatt hours.
Source: BTA (11.01.2024)

Czech company Rezolv Energy has received approval and a license from the Bulgarian energy regulator for the company's project plan for a 229 MW solar photovoltaic plant in the north-eastern part of Bulgaria. The construction of the photovoltaic park named after "St. George" is planned to be in the coming months and it is expected to be fully ready by the second quarter of 2025. According to the document, the final date for putting the energy site into operation is the end of May 2025 . It will be located in the village of Polkovnik Lambrinovo, Silistra municipality. The park will be built on 165 hectares on the territory of a decommissioned airport and will be equipped with about 400,000 panels. It is expected to produce an average of 313 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per year, which will be taken by commercial and industrial entities through long-term power purchase agreements. Rezolv Energy acquired the rights to develop the largest solar park in Bulgaria in July 2023. The Czech company acquired the project from the Bulgarian YGY Industries JSC, which is owned by Yavor Georgiev. The energy production capacity will be equal to 13% of the current solar energy production in Bulgaria, according to Resolv Energy. British investor Actis established Rezolv Energy nearly 2 years ago and has 2 GW of clean energy projects ready for construction, including the 1,044 MW Dama Solar Park in Romania. Rezolv also has over 1 GW of wind projects under construction in Romania. For the connection of the St. George FPP to the electricity transmission network owned by the "Electricity System Operator", the company has presented a contract for the connection of an electricity producer's site to the transmission electricity network, concluded with the "Electricity System Operator" EAD. The company has requested that the term of the license be thirty-five years, which the company says is in line with the expected service life of the photovoltaic panels, inverters and other technical equipment.
Source: money.bg (15.01.2024)

Electricity produced by RES has increased by over 26% in a year The participation of renewable energy sources (RES) in the transmission network increased by 26.46 percent for the period January 1, 2024 - January 21, 2024 compared to January 1, 2023 - January 21, 2023. This is shown by the data of the last operational report on the energy balance in the country of the Electricity System Operator (ESO). From the beginning of the year to January 21, the share of RES in the transmission network was reported in the amount of 131,560 megawatt hours, while for the analogous period of 2023, this share was 104,031 megawatt hours. The participation of RES in the distribution network also increased - by 20.73 percent in the compared period. The data show that for the first 21 days of the year, 131,253 megawatt-hours of electricity entered the distribution network from RES energy, while for the comparable period of the past year, 2023, there were 108,720 megawatt-hours. Electricity production in Bulgaria decreased by 15.38 percent for the period 1 - 21 January 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. From the beginning of the year to January 21, 2,472,023 megawatt hours were produced, while for the same period last year the electricity produced was 2,921,158 megawatt hours. From January 1 to January 21 this year, electricity consumption in the country increased by 7.28 percent. For this period of the year, 2,651,051 megawatt hours were consumed, while in the same period last year, consumption was 2,471,258 megawatt hours. The balance (export-import) of electricity continues to decrease, the ESO report also shows. For the first 21 days of the year, it is negative - with minus 179,028 megawatt hours, while in the analogous period of 2023 it was positive with 449,900 megawatt hours. The participation of base plants in the country's energy balance from the beginning of the year to January 21 compared to this period in 2023 also decreased - by 19.76 percent. From January 1 to January 21 this year, 2,069,283 megawatt-hours of electricity were produced from base plants, while for the same period in 2023, electricity from them was 2,578,728 megawatt-hours. An increase in electricity produced by hydroelectric power stations is reported - by 7.90 percent for the period January 1, 2024 - January 21, 2024 compared to January 1, 2023 - January 21, 2023.
Source: 24 chasa (24.01.2024)

The Council of Ministers approved the GREENABLER project for financing from the Modernization Fund The government approved an investment with priority - GREENABLER project with beneficiary ESO EAD, for financing with funds from the Modernization Fund. The ESO project for the expansion of the electricity transmission network is divided into two main groups of activities. The first is the transformation of 720 km of existing power lines from a voltage level of 220 kilovolts to 400 and synchronized reconstruction of the adjacent substations. The second group is for the reconstruction of the "Hemus - Stara planina" power line and its transformation from a voltage level of 220 to 400 kilovolts, reconstruction of 888 km of 110 kilovolt power lines and doubling of 92 km of 110 kilovolt power lines in order to increase the transmission capacity of the network. The project is worth a total of 857 million euros. The funds from the Modernization Fund for the activities of the first group are in the amount of 568 million euros. The investments are proposed to be financed in stages over the next 7 years. In 2024, only the first stage will be financed, which has a budget of EUR 65 million. Investments in the second group of activities amount to EUR 203 million and are proposed for financing under the RePowerEU chapter of the National Plan for Recovery and Sustainability. The rest of the funds needed for the implementation of the project, will be provided by the Electricity System Operator. The implementation of the GREENABLER project aims to reconstruct the electricity transmission network and increase its transmission capacity in order to provide the necessary technical capabilities for the integration of the new RES projects set out in the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan out of a total of 4.5 the gigawatt.
Source: 24 chasa (15.02.2024)

ESO registers two more solar power plants as balancing capacities The Electricity System Operator (ESO) registered two more solar power plants as system balancing capacities, after a month ago the first RES producer (FEC "Razlog" with a total installed capacity of 28 MW) was registered as a provider of balancing services for manual secondary frequency regulation and the exchange capacities. One of the new registered suppliers is "Rial States" EOOD with FEC "Rial States" (capacity 150 MW) near Pazardzhik. The company is owned by Ginka Varbakova, who became famous after trying to buy CEZ's business in Bulgaria. The other new balancing power belongs to "Si Solar Energy" EOOD with the photovoltaic plant "Terasol" near Stara Zagora, it has a capacity of 100 MW. Registration of the first wind farm as balancing power is pending. A contract will be signed with the company "Vetrocom" EOOD with the "Vetrocom" wind power plant near Buzludzha, which has a capacity of 71.5 MW and has successfully passed the requalification tests. The VyaEP is the second largest wind park in the country. Last year, it was sold by the Swiss energy giant Alpiq to the company Renalfa - the sole owner of the capital of "Vetrokom". Based in Austria, Renalfa is headquartered in Vienna. Its main commercial activity is in the field of development, construction and operation of projects for renewable energy sources in Central and Eastern Europe. Media publisher Ivo Prokopiev is a shareholder in the company.
Source: economic.bg (21.02.2024)

Salary increases on the boards of state-owned companies are supposedly tied to a formula that takes into account each quarter the specific results of the company, but the formula is drawn up in such a way that for state-owned companies with large assets and personnel, the specific financial result has less weight in the evaluation . Under the official government of Galab Donev, it was allowed that the salaries of the management staff were not limited by an upper maximum for part of the public enterprises. Thus, for example, the maximum possible salary in the RVD, in the absence of a maximum, reached a record 26,910 BGN per month. This level was possible with a minimum salary of BGN 780. At the current level of the minimum salary of BGN 933, the maximum possible salary of the director of the Internal Revenue Service is now BGN 32,188 per month. In 2023, RVD reported BGN 612,000 in costs for the remuneration of the general director and the management board, with an annual expenditure under this heading in 2022 amounting to BGN 287,000. RVD is managed by a three-member board, and the reported growth in salary costs is over 200%. Remunerations have also reached cosmic levels in the "Electricity System Operator", which has also already published an annual report for 2023. In it, ESO reports that the expenses for remunerations of the management and supervisory board have reached BGN 1 million and 13 thousand. at BGN 668,000 for 2022.
Source: Sega (22.04.2024)

The share of hydropower in the country's energy balance as of May 5 is growing by 10.53% According to operational data of the Electricity System Operator (ESO) for the period 01.01 - 05.05. 2024 compared to the analogous period of 2023, electricity production in Bulgaria decreased by 12.09% to a volume of 13,767,522 MWh. A year earlier, electricity production amounted to 15,660,954 MWh. Electricity consumption for the period compared to last year decreased (minus) by 4.50% to a volume of 13,431,388 MWh (a week ago – minus 4.40 percent). For comparison, during the same period last year, electricity consumption reached a volume of 14,063,752 MWh. The balance (export-import) of electricity decreased (minus) by 78.95% to a volume of 336,134 MWh (a week earlier – minus 84.13%). During the same period last year, the balance (export-import) of electricity reached volume of 1,597,202 MWh. The share of base plants for the indicated compared period from this year to last year shrank by 18.95% to a volume of 10,686,595 MWh. A year earlier, the participation of base plants was in the order of 13,184,770 MWh. The participation of RES in the transmission network compared to the same period of the previous year in 2023 increased by 44.39% and reached a volume of 959,243 MWh (a week earlier – plus 45.55%). A year earlier, RES participated in the transmission network with a quantity of the order of 664,332 MWh. The share of RES in the distribution network increased by 25.80% and reached a volume of 980,213 MWh (for the reporting period until April 28 – plus 26.63%). A year earlier, the share of RES in the distribution network amounted to 779,155 MWh. The better results for the period of the current year 2024 are due to the positive participation of photovoltaic plants (plus 54.01 %) and biomass (plus 22.96 %), regardless of the poor share of wind plants (minus 11.06 %). Hydroelectric power plants (HPP) again demonstrated a growth of 10.53%. Or, if last year the participation of HPP was in the volume of 1,032,697 MWh, during the indicated days of the current year 2024, it increases to 1,141,471 MWh.
Source: 3e-news (09.05.2024)

ESO reports a record drop in electricity exports for the first four months of 2024 A record drop in the export of electricity by nearly 79% for the first four months of the year is reported by the Electricity System Operator (ESO) for the first four months of the year. At the same time, a decrease in the production and internal consumption of electricity was also registered. One of the reasons for the record drop in exports is cheaper electricity in neighboring countries that are not in the European Union and do not pay quotas for carbon emissions in electricity production. The decline in electricity production is due to both reduced exports and contracted consumption. At the moment, the share of green energy in the production of electricity in our country is close to 55% - 44% from RES and 11% from hydropower.
Source: news.bg (13.05.2024)

Almost three times better financial result for 2023 reports "Electricity System Operator" (ESO) compared to the previous year 2022. The net profit of the company, which deals with dispatching the network and collecting fees for transmission and access, rose to BGN 250.4 million against BGN 91 million a year earlier. This is the result of a number of factors, including increased revenues from connection (by BGN 31 million compared to 2022), increased access revenues for RES producers as a result of higher amounts of electricity produced (by 39% compared to January - December 2022). All of this is likely to continue given the significant generation of electricity from solar and wind, as well as requests for new plants despite declining grid capacity. Factor in m.y. there were also reduced costs for the purchase of energy for technological cost of transmission compared to the same period of the previous year due to a drop in exchange prices. The total amount of ESO's capital and reserves in 2023 reaches BGN 2.5 billion compared to BGN 2.3 billion for the same period last year. Despite its excellent results, the company reports a weak growth in the total amount of liabilities, which are BGN 1.32 billion compared to BGN 1.26 billion a year earlier. The amount of current liabilities decreased to BGN 241 million (BGN 363 million for 2022), while that of non-current liabilities grew slightly and was BGN 1 billion (from BGN 905 million a year earlier), it becomes clear from the report. The income of ESO for m.y. are in the amount of BGN 1.3 billion, and the result of operational activity - BGN 278 million. This is a significant improvement compared to 2022, when it was BGN 101 million. Already in 2022, ESO's profit reached BGN 91 million (compared to BGN 79.4 million in 2021), with which the sums of the company's accounts exceeded BGN 400 million.
Source: Capital (15.05.2024)

The ESO returned its excess revenues from the extreme prices of balancing energy The "Electricity System Operator" (ESO) has reimbursed market players over BGN 25.8 million, which it received as excess revenues from the extremely high prices of the balancing shortfall energy on the electricity market on May 19, 2024. This is how it fulfills the decision of the energy regulator for a fairer distribution of balancing energy costs among all commercial participants who suffered significant losses from having to pay prices above BGN 6,300/MWh to electricity producers who activated their capacities as a result of current shortages . According to the order of the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, ESO has carried out a secondary settlement and has recalculated the obligations of the market participants on the relevant date. The coordinators of the balancing groups were reimbursed a total of BGN 25,861,297.93 - realized financial surplus from the ESO on May 19, 2024 as a result of inaccurate forecasting, untimely decisions by market participants to achieve a balanced schedule and underestimation of the situation by a significant part of the coordinators of balancing groups. In turn, the coordinators of balancing groups to whom the sums from the applied one-time compensatory mechanism were transferred after the secondary settlement by ESO must distribute them to the affected trading participants in the respective balancing group. According to the decision of KEVR, the receivables from May 19, 2024 of the bona fide coordinators of balancing groups, who responsibly and professionally took all the necessary actions, including with active participation in the market "within the day", to ensure a balanced schedule in their group, the press release also notes. For them, revenues of about BGN 600,000 remain from the balancing market on this critical day.
Source: mediapool.bg (15.07.2024)

IMF: State-owned companies in Bulgaria are expensive, inefficient and carry risks for everyone Large companies with state participation in Bulgaria have low profitability and inefficient allocation of resources, and although they are not significant in terms of share, they play a decisive role in the production network, which can negatively affect the productivity and competitiveness of the entire economy. The level of state-guaranteed debt of state-owned enterprises is small - on average only 0.5% of GDP in 2010-21 (the average level in the EU is 9%, and in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe it is 3.5%). And the support with such guarantees due to the COVID-19 pandemic was many times lower - 0.3% of GDP in Bulgaria compared to almost 2% in the EU for 2019-2021. But there is a key point - there is no generalized information on guarantees in Bulgaria, issued by the state-owned enterprises themselves, since their activity does not require the approval or supervision of the Ministry of Finance. Thus, total liabilities averaged around 12% of GDP in 2013-2021, which could be a source of concern. This is stated in the Analysis of the International Monetary Fund "Fiscal risks of state-owned companies". The analysis is based on data from 15 companies in which the authorities at various levels have over 50% share: Energy sector (National Electric Company (NEK), Kozloduy NPP, Bulgargaz, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2, Electricity System Operator, Bulgarian energy holding (BEH), Mini Maritsa Iztok, "Bulgartransgaz"), Transport sector (National Railway Infrastructure Company (NRI), BDZ - Passenger Transport Ltd., Air Traffic Control (RVD), Transport Construction and Reconstruction (TSV), BDZ - Cargo Services Ltd., Port of Varna, Bulgarian Port Infrastructure). The total assets and liabilities of these 15 companies represent about 70% of the total for the entire segment with state participation 2015-2021, which covers about 700 companies. The general assessment for them is that the fiscal support is much higher than what they give as revenues to the budget. In 2017-19, they received subsidies, capital investments and capital transfers (direct support) and deferred tax and dividend exemptions (indirect support) of an average of 1.5% of GDP. To this they have responded with a contribution of 0.2%. Net, they absorbed 1.3% of GDP immediately before the pandemic and at the end of the last GERB government. In the first pandemic year (2020), this ratio became 2.5% against 0.1% and is an illustration of how an unexpected shock can lead to large fiscal costs for companies with state participation, the IMF says. These are companies in which 4.1% of all employed work. Their financial stability can affect the fiscal performance of the state, especially when they have incurred potentially significant costs, whether expressly guaranteed or without the authorities making a contractual commitment. In 2023-2024, the state doubled the dividend collected by these companies from 50% to 100% to support the budget, but the price for this is a risk to their investment, productivity and profitability. "Furthermore, the dividend policy lacks predictability and seems to be driven by the needs of the state budget. Such a policy reduces the incentives of companies to invest and thus has a significant adverse effect on economic activity," the authors of the report add. State-owned companies are much, much less profitable than those in the private sector. Return on assets (one of the key measures of profitability) was between minus 1% and 2% for the period 2015-2021, with an average of 10% in private. In 2022, this difference suddenly melted (9% for state-owned, 11% for private), but not because there was better management, but because of three specific companies - NEK, Kozloduy NPP and Maritsa Iztok 2 TPP, and their income from sharply increased energy prices due to Russian aggression against Ukraine. Return on equity (another measure of profitability, measuring a firm's ability to generate profits using its shareholders' capital) for SOEs is on average 20 percentage points lower than that of private firms. Due to the specifics of many state-owned enterprises, profitability is logically lower than that of private ones, but in countries with better management results, the difference between them is 4 percentage points or five times smaller than in Bulgaria, the IMF recalls .Everyone suffers from the bad management of business with state participation. Six state-owned enterprises have been facing short-term challenges in meeting their obligations for years. In the period 2015-2022, without sufficient liquid assets to cover the amounts due to creditors in the next 12 months were National Railway Infrastructure Company, TPP Maritsa Iztok 2, National Electric Company, BDZ - Passenger Transport, BDZ - Freight Transport and Transportation Construction and Reconstruction. Bulgargaz faced a liquidity crisis in mid-2022 due to low collection of receivables and arrears from Toplofikatsia Sofia. Accumulated arrears to suppliers were paid through a (bridging) loan and/or state aid. Another indicator of concern to IMF analysts is the high debt-to-asset ratio (ie, less financial flexibility) of several large state-owned enterprises. These are, for example, "Bulgartransgaz", National Railway Infrastructure, Bulgarian Energy Holding and Electric Power System Operator. It has also seen how debt-to-asset dynamics can change sharply - in the case of Bulgargaz, it jumps from around 45% in 2019 to over 90% in 2022. The combination of high debt and low profitability raises concerns for the ability to service the debt and therefore risks at the fiscal level, the IMF explains.
Source: Dnevnik (18.07.2024)