Energy in Bulgaria
[3] The completely state-owned company Bulgarian Energy Holding owns subsidiaries operating in different energy sectors, including electricity: Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, Maritsa Iztok 2 Thermal Power Plant, NEK EAD and Elektroenergien sistemen operator (ESO); natural gas: Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz; coal mining: Maritsa Iztok Mines.
[6] Total primary energy production was 10.832 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2020, of which 23.3% was produced from renewable sources.
[7] Bulgaria’s power sector is diverse and well-developed, with universal access to the grid and numerous cross-border connections in neighbouring countries.
[8] Although almost totally dependent on imported crude oil and natural gas, Bulgaria is a net exporter of electricity.
[13][14][15] In 2023, the petrochemical companies OMV and Total estimated that up to 13 billion cubic meters of natural gas could potentially be extracted from the Bulgarian Black Sea exclusive economic zone.
[19] The country imported over 90% of its natural gas from Russia via the Turk Stream pipeline under a 10-year contract,[20] which expired at the end of 2022.
[17] In April 2022 Russia stopped piping gas to Bulgaria and Poland, due to their refusal to pay in roubles.
[32] More than 92% of them, or 4.5 billion tons,[32] is lignite, which is the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low-heat content but is widely used for electricity generation.
[33] The reserves of sub-bituminous coal are 300 million tons, situated mainly near Bobov Dol, Pernik and Burgas.
However, there is a huge basin of bituminous coal in Southern Dobruja with estimated reserves of over 1 billion tons but its large depth (1370–1950 m) is an obstacle for its commercial exploitation.
[43] Generating over 10% of Bulgaria's electricity, most hydropower plants are owned by NEK EAD and located in the Rhodope Mountains and Rila.
All of these are located in the Maritsa river drainage, though water is also collected from neighbouring basins, such as those of the Mesta and the Struma via gathering derivations and tunnels.
[46] There are three pumped storage hydro power plants, including the Chaira PSHPP (864 MW) — the largest in Southeastern Europe,[47] with an important function to balance short-term consumption changes or shortages in the national grid.
[48] In 2023, US based Westinghouse Electric Company are in the planning process with Kozloduy NPP-Newbuild to build the first of four new reactors in Bulgaria.
[58] In addition, all of the currently operating coal power plants are expected to close by the end of the decade as they will become economically unprofitable, owing to the recent and future trend of decreasing renewable energy prices.
