New measures due to high electricity prices will be introduced in our country. This was announced by Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov at a briefing.

According to him, all proposals are to be discussed both in the Council of Ministers and in additional formats.

"The period for compensation is extended from December to the end of the first quarter of 2022. The goal is to cover the most difficult period ahead, with the highest consumption of energy resources," said Nikolov.

He stressed that the compensation from December onwards will be calculated according to the real stock exchange price from "day ahead" for July.

"That means BGN 185.59 per megawatt-hour. This is the base from which to start," Nikolov said.

Users with contracts below this price will not be compensated. Under this measure, the state's expenditures in support of business are expected to exceed BGN 900 million.

The proposals will also include consumers of natural gas on the regulated market.

"We will offer a fixed scheme per megawatt-hour for resource costs. This will alleviate the pressure to potentially increase heat prices to end-users. About BGN 200 million have been earmarked for this,” said the Minister of Energy.

According to Nikolov, within the next 4 months, the resource that will be allocated is expected to exceed BGN 1.5 billion.

"There is a crisis in electricity prices all over Europe. Bulgaria continues and will become an increasingly sustainable member of the EU, which means that we cannot maintain very low prices in our country," said the Minister of Energy.

He pointed out that medium-term and long-term measures are being discussed with all counterparties involved, leading to a significantly higher degree of transparency and predictability for both producers and consumers.

"It is unthinkable for the system regulator, as well as the ERPs, to trade and buy their technological costs the day before. Initiatives will be taken so that these costs are in line with the EWRC and there are long-term contracts that will be transparent," Nikolov added.

He was adamant that these technological costs would not be under the umbrella of commercial companies.

The Minister of Energy also announced that from next year we will have a plant for the production of solar panels.

"The investment will exceed 150 million euros. The goal is to produce panels with a capacity of at least 1 gigawatt in Bulgaria next year, and this will be expanded as soon as possible," he said.

According to him, opportunities for storage of electricity are being studied, as well as partnerships for rapid implementation of projects related to the so-called "Smart grids".

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