site.btaEnergy Minister: "Bulgaria Must Be Very Circumspect about Capacity Closure or Risks Becoming Net Electricity Importer"

"If Bulgaria reduces its electricity production capacities to an extent that we won't be able to cover our costs, electricity will not just be expensive but unavailable. We have nowhere to import electricity from - everybody around import from us," Bulgarian caretaker Energy Minister Rossen Hristov said during Wednesday's meeting of the National Assembly Energy Committee.

Hristov was asked by GERB-UDF whether the EU's decarbonization plans pose a risk to Bulgaria's energy security.

"The European Commission adamantly refuses to negotiate either on 2026 as the baseline year or on the percentage targets," the Energy Minister replied.

As he put it, this country is among Europe's largest electricity exporters and the largest one in Southeastern Europe. He noted that demand is so high at this point that Bulgaria cannot meet it and refuses to export electricity to Moldova and North Macedonia. Ukraine, too, is expected to ask for Bulgarian electricity shortly.

An Energy Ministry analysis shows that this shortage of electricity in Southeastern Europe will be increasing in the coming years. "We will be having a serious problem with energy security if we close down capacities and turn into a net importer," Hristov warned. He argued that in case of an emergency shut-down of any capacity during the winter, Bulgaria will be unable to import electricity from the neighbouring countries because they rely on import from Bulgaria.

"That is why the question of closing down generating capacities should be handled with utmost care," the Energy Minister emphasized.