Bulgaria PM: Grid Access Fee for Renewable Energy Producers Was Unavoidable

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has admitted that the introduction of the contested grid access fee for renewable energy producers was his idea, but the decision was tough to take.

"We would have driven the state to bankruptcy, had we not interfered on time," Borisov said Tuesday, commenting on the grid access fee paid by renewable energy producers.

"If we had fetched panels worth billions, we would be having no wheat but only wind turbines," Bulgaria's Prime Minister stated, as cited by econ.bg.

He pointed out that the decision to introduce the grid access fee, which was met with repeated protests of renewable energy producers, was his and had been pretty tough to make.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister emphasized that Bulgarian citizens were dearer to him than investors.

The grid access fee was introduced on September 14, 2012, after which renewable electricity producers staged multiple protests, asserting that the fee was discriminatory.

Meanwhile, Economy and Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev reminded that the fee was to be revised six months after its introduction.

He argued that the fee was absolutely legal, citing legal provisions on the matter from 2007.

Dobrev claimed that investments of EUR 5 B had already been made in renewable energy sources in Bulgaria, adding that the expenses for renewable energy projects were high and had to be covered by the investors.

Borisov noted that these expenses were currently covered by the people, whose electricity bills were 13% higher.

The Prime Minister stressed that renewable electricity was more expensive due to the fact that wind turbines and solar panels were imported from China as no investments had yet been allocated to a plant for such installations.

The Prime Minister also argued that grid losses in Bulgaria amounted to the output of a nuclear reactor.