Bulgaria’s Ministry of Energy has launched two tenders to add 1,425MW of renewable power generation to the grid and 350MW of battery energy storage system (BESS) projects.
The ministry said the main objective of the investment, totalling BGN535.1 million (US$298.2 million), is to increase the share of clean energy in Bulgaria’s energy mix by supporting the construction and integration of renewables into the grid.
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With a budget of BGN107.6 million, the first tender will finance the construction of solar and wind projects and co-located BESS with an installed capacity of 200kW to 2MW. In this tender, a minimum of 200MW of production capacity from renewables in combination with a minimum of 100MW of BESS will be built. The maximum amount of financing for a project is up to BGN35.9 million.
The financing will cover up to 50% of the eligible costs but not more than BGN1.08 million per 1MW of installed BESS capacity.
The second tender’s budget reaches BGN427.5 million, supporting new solar and wind projects, along with BESS, with an installed capacity of more than 200 kW. This tender aims to build a minimum of 940MW of renewables capacity in combination with a minimum of 200MW of BESS. The maximum financing for one project for one enterprise is up to BGN58.7 million.
The financing will cover up to 50% of the eligible costs, with a maximum of BGN743,215 for 1MW of installed capacity of the BESS.
Companies from all sectors in Bulgaria can submit bids for the tender except agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and the deadline for submitting project proposals is 12 June 2024.
On that note, the Bulgarian government started a public consultation on the country’s first renewable energy auction in October 2023, with a proposed capacity of 570MW for wind and solar for the first tender. The main objective of the tender round was to encourage contributions to increase the share of clean energy in Bulgaria’s energy mix on the way to climate neutrality.
Prior to these tenders, in February, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) backed a €25 million (US$27 million) investment into a 112.5MW solar PV project in north-eastern Bulgaria. The EBRD will guarantee the €25 million loan from UniCredit Bulbank to the Tsenovo solar plant through its risk-sharing framework, which sees the EBRD share risk with ‘Partner Financial Institutions’ on investments into local companies.
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