site.btaPresident Radev Vetoes Energy Act Amendments

President Rumen Radev on Wednesday signed a decree returning for further discussion the Act to Amend and Supplement the Energy Act, adopted on January 12, 2023.

According to the reasons for the veto, the amendments, which stipulate that by the end of 2023 the financial settlement prepared by the electricity system operator should be carried out at a time interval of one hour, do not guarantee compliance with the requirements of European Union law and hinder the socio-economic benefits in Bulgaria.

As of October 1, 2022, the electricity transmission system operator and the exchange operator in Bulgaria have introduced a 15-minute period for the settlement of imbalances and 15-minute products for intraday market trading. 

The application of the 15-minute balancing periods contributes to better use of existing interconnectors, higher volumes of electricity exports from Bulgaria to neighbouring countries, a better level of frequency regulation, more active participation of traders in balancing the system, improved forecasting and reduced balancing prices. 

Section 24 of the Act to Amend and Supplement the Energy Act deviates from the norms of Regulation (EU) 2017/2195 and Regulation (EU) 2019/943. This provision postpones the mandatory balancing already introduced in Bulgaria for 15 minutes and reverts the settlement carried out to a time interval of one hour. As a consequence, the operator incur higher costs for regulating capacities and may end up with a reduction of water reserves in large dams. The increase in the operator's regulation costs will also lead to a higher cost of balancing power, which will have an adverse financial effect on the consumers. Commercial exports and exchanges of electricity with other countries will also be affected, the veto reasons state.