A new energy tax will be collected from the producers of renewable energy, Bulgaria's State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation decided on Tuesday.

The charge of BGN 2.45 per MW will be paid to the State System Operator for Electric Energy. It will be backdated to September 14, 2012, when the previous "temporary" fee, now declared illegal and scrapped by a court, came into force.

With the changes made by the energy watchdog, the State System Operator will be freed of the larger part of its duties to the producers. It will be able to subtract the new fee out of its financial liabilities - BGN 46.8 M as of February this year.

At the same time CEZ, EVN and Energo Pro, the power distributors operating in Bulgaria, are already preparing to return all the fees collected under the old taxation law to the renewable energy producers, which amount to BGN 95.1 M.

Representatives of the Bulgarian photovoltaic industry declared their intention to appeal the watchdog's decision for a new fee.

Power regulators also received the news with discontent, with some of them explaining that paying only to the State System Operator is "discriminatory" as they also have expenses for supporting the grid, Bulgarian newspaper Trud reports.