The Varna Administrative Court has overturned an earlier ban on the construction of wind farm in northwestern Bulgaria, a project worth over 600 million euros, developed by Dobrotich Wind, a local subsidiary of renewables developer CWP Global.
The statement from the company said that the court upheld its complaint that a moratorium on wind turbine installation imposed by the Vetrino municipality in July was in breach of Bulgaria’s renewable energy legislation. The moratorium was initiated as a result of protests by local residents, but the court found that the municipality does not have the powers to rule on the matter which is under national and European jurisdiction.
The project envisages the installation of 74 wind turbines with power output of 8 MW each in the Valchi Dol and Vetrino municipalities, totaling 592 MW. Thus, it would be the largest wind farm in Bulgaria, far exceeding the current largest one – 156 MW St. Nikola wind farm owned and operated by AES Bulgaria. It would effectively double the wind installed capacity in the country.