Bulgarian Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov said that, due to its climate conditions: sunshine of 14 hours daily for a long period lasting from March to October, Bulgaria has excellent conditions for the development of solar projects.
Minister Nikolov attended the Solarpower Summit 2022 in Brussels, where he answered questions concerning Europe’s dependence on the import of fossil fuels from Russia and the investments in renewable energy sources at large and in solar power in particular, and how they can help the European economies achieve energy independence.
He said that the growing geopolitical insecurity due to the hostilities in Ukraine, along with the lack of predictability owing to the dramatic volatility of energy prices, pose serious challenges to the European economies and power industries.
Minister Nikolov pointed out that the Bulgarian Government sets a serious priority on the development of renewable energy sources and, in particular, of solar power and wind power.
According to data published by electricity transmission system operator ESO, in January- March 2022 period, solar power plants increased their share in Bulgaria’s electricity transmission network by 39.99 % compared to the same period in 2021, while the share of wind power plants rose by 19.53 %. In the first quarter of 2022, the share of wind power plants in the electricity distribution network grew by 26.55 %, and the share of solar power plants rose by 22.1 % year-on-year.