Environment Energy Mining Watch SEE|News|Largest solar power plant in central-eastern Europe to be built in Bulgaria

Largest solar power plant in central-eastern Europe to be built in Bulgaria

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Vienna-based company Enery Development is planning a giant solar power plant without subsidies and purchase agreements. The investment near Haskovo is estimated at almost 500m levs (256m euros), and after construction the Bulgarian energy sector will change significantly. Enery boughtlargest solar park so far in Bulgaria near Karadzhalov, and also has a project near Dimitrovgrad

The largest solar power plant in Central and Eastern Europe is to be built near Haskovo, Bulgaria. The municipal council gave preliminary consent to determine the right to build a photovoltaic park on plots of 4,000 hectares near the villages of Knizovnik and Dolno Vojvodino. The intention is to install solar panels with a total capacity of 400 megawatts, which could produce enough electricity for 200,000 customers a year. The only such project of that size in Europe is the Spanish Nunez de Balboa, whose power is 500 MW. The value of the investment in the project near Haskovo is estimated at around 500 million levs (256.2 million euros), depending on the time of construction and the market conditions at the time.

In addition to the 400 MW solar power plant, the construction of an industrial energy storage system is also planned. Given the solar capacity in the area, it is estimated that the solar park will be able to produce 560,000 MWh of electricity per year – which is approximately a third of the current total electricity production from solar power plants in the country. For the sake of comparison, this amount of electricity is approximately equal to the consumption in a city like Burgas without a large industry.

In addition, green electricity will save close to 570 thousand tons of carbon emissions every year. The investment proposal itself belongs to the Bulgarian company Enery BG 1, owned by the Austrian Enery Development, behind which stands a major global player in the renewable energy sector – RP Global.

Earlier this year, Enery agreed to take over the largest solar park in Bulgaria at the moment, located in Karadjalovo, near Parvomay, with an installed capacity of 60.4 MW. The estimated value of the transaction is around 100 million euros, because the plant has a contract on preferential purchase of electricity until 2032, unlike the new project, which will fully function on a market basis. At the end of August, the Austrians registered a lien on the plant in Karadjalovo for 97 million euros, and the finalization of the agreement is expected these days.

In addition to the investment near Haskovo, the Austrians are working on a similar but smaller project near Dimitrovgrad. Although both projects are still at a very early stage, they are a clear signal of the changes that are underway.

After seven or eight years of almost complete stagnation of large investments in RES since 2018 in Western Europe, there has been a real renaissance in the sector that now covers the southeastern parts of the continent. The reasons for this are very specific – the prices of solar panels and wind turbines have dropped dramatically (even twice), their efficiency has increased (by about 100%), the electricity market is developing and better conditions are created for the sale of green electricity and finally , but not least, the EU has committed to the so-called. Green deal and increased its goals for the share of renewable energy in the economy. In short – such investments already have their own business logic.

Source: capital.bg

 

 

 

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