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Close to 22.6% of the energy used in Bulgaria in 2023 comes from renewable sources

by AI | 19.Dec 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Bulgaria and the EBRD signed an additional agreement for providing technical assistance under RESTORE.

Wind farm near Kavarna. Photo: Alexandra Antonova, BTA

BRUSSELS/SOFIA – Nearly 22.6% of the energy used in Bulgaria in 2023 is from renewable sources compared to 19.04% in 2022. These are the latest data from the European statistical agency Eurostat. Last year Bulgaria ranked 14th in this indicator among the countries of the European Union (EU).

In 2023, with the largest share of electricity used from renewable sources in the European Union were Sweden (66.4%), Finland (50.8%), and Denmark (44.9%). The lowest share was in Luxembourg (11.6%), Belgium (14.7%), and Malta (15.1%), according to data from the European statistical agency.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Minister of Energy Vladimir Malinov and the Director for Bulgaria at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Manuela Nesl signed an additional agreement for providing technical assistance. It involves providing technical assistance in the investment in national energy storage infrastructure from renewable sources RESTORE, financed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy (ME).

Minister Malinov stated that the construction of national energy storage infrastructure is an additional guarantee for the security and sustainability of the energy system.

In Bulgaria, over 150 proposals for nearly 2.5 million euros have been submitted under RESTORE. The grant funding is over half a billion euros, the energy ministry reported at the beginning of December.

At the end of November, the European Commission approved 590 million euros of state aid for energy storage investments in Bulgaria. The goal is to add at least three gigawatt-hours of new energy storage facilities to the Bulgarian energy system, which will help include a higher share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix. The aid will be grant-based and open to all storage technologies, the EC clarified. (December 19, 2024)