Following a meeting of Romanian and Bulgarian Prime Ministers Niculae Ciuca and Kiril Petkov, the joint statement said that the two countries will look to jointly develop energy and infrastructure projects that will increase connectivity and security in the southeastern Europe.
Bulgaria is set to propose the construction of a joint offshore wind park in the Black Sea, near the northern coastal town of Shabla. Danish and German investors with relevant project experience have already expressed interest in such potential development, but a lack of a regulatory framework is the main stumbling block at present. Bulgaria has offshore wind potential for 116 GW in capacity, of which about 26 GW could be developed in the near future.
According to Wind Europe, Europe has about 116 offshore wind farms installed across 12 countries, but the majority of the capacity is concentrated in North Sea waters. However, more countries are starting to open their territorial waters to floating and fixed offshore wind farms, including Poland, Greece and the Baltic states, which are already developing projects.
In late 2020, the EU presented a strategy to boost offshore renewable energy, with the aim of increasing capacity to at least 60 GW by 2030 and to 300 GW by 2050. The move will play an important part in helping the bloc wean itself off Russian gas, in particular in light of Gazprom having ceased to supply to Poland and Bulgaria.
