Bulgarian caretaker Government announced that it will allocate additional 1.85 billion euros to extend the support mechanism aimed to help commercial consumers and network operators cope with ongoing energy crisis.
The statement from the Government said that some 633,000 commercial consumers will benefit from the support measures between 1 October and 31 December, for which some 1.6 billion euros will be allocated, while the rest will be disbursed to network operators.
All non-residential consumers will be fully compensated for the difference between the real average monthly baseload day-ahead price on the Independent Bulgarian Electricity Exchange (IBEX) for the relevant month and the price of 127.5 euros/MWh.
The maximum compensation for electricity transmission system operator ESO and electricity distributors Electrohold Bulgaria, EVN Bulgaria and Energo-Pro will amount to the difference between the real average monthly price on the IBEX day- ahead market and the market prices forecast by the energy regulator. These estimated prices are 215 euros/MWh for ESO and 228 euros/MWh for the network operators.
The compensations will be paid out by 31 March 2023 and will be provided through the Electricity System Security Fund financed by state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH).
In the third quarter, the state provided some 350 million euros in energy subsidies for businesses.