People from the EC in Bobov dol thermal power plant and in Pernik to see the energy transformation

We are here to listen to you, we are familiar with the challenges facing Bulgaria, said the representatives of Brussels High representatives of the European Commission visited TPP "Bobov dol" and "Toplofikatsia Pernik" as part of their tour of the Southwestern coal mining region Among the guests of the headquarters were Sofia Alves, director of "Development of administrative capacity and implementation of programs" at the General Directorate "Regional and Urban Policy" of the EC, Agnes Monfre - head of the department "Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia", the deputy head of the department Zholt Shokolai, Simeon Shenev - team leader for Bulgaria of the department and managers and leaders in this very responsible and important European body.

The representatives of the EC met with the managements of the two headquarters and the local authorities, visited their main facilities and learned about the investments made so far in the direction of the transformation of the energy companies towards the production of cleaner and greener energy TPP "Bobov dol" has already taken the path of transformation Kristina Lazarova - chairperson of the board of directors of the company and co-founder of the platform created with the aim of transformation of the southwestern coal region - Brown to Green.

We are glad that you are here, because we have a lot to tell you, and we hope that you also have something to tell us, Lazarova added At the meeting, all the steps that have already been taken with a deadline of 2025 and which will change the appearance of the plant were presented.

In 1st place, it is a 100 megawatt photovoltaic park, which should be operational in mid-December this year .

"In just two days - on February 13, we will make the first sod, the construction is by a Bulgarian company with the most experience in the field, the inverters and panels have been selected, ordered and the first deliveries are traveling to Bulgaria We have chosen to work with leading companies in this field.

We have also planned the construction of a battery farm to store green energy," said Lazarova By the end of August this year, the plant will join the national gas transmission network and use natural gas to fire up its units.

A biogas plant with a capacity of 7 megawatts is being built, for which a contract has already been signed with "ZorgBiogas" - a company that has built over 37 similar installations in countries such as Germany, Denmark, Italy, Slovakia, Latvia Delivery time of the equipment is 9 months from now and construction will be completed within 8 months after the delivery of the equipment.

Additionally, 5 gas plants have been purchased and will be in operation until the summer of 2024 with a total capacity of 42 megawatts If we manage to cope with the projects, we will be able to replace not a small part of the use of coal as fuel, Lazarova pointed out.

The plant has a conceptual project developed for the construction of an installation with hybrid turbines operating on natural gas and hydrogen with a total capacity of 240 megawatts, installation of electrolyzers that will produce hydrogen for the turbines from the energy from the photovoltaic park This is a unique project, but on this stage the analysis of the possible financial instruments to be selected has not been completed.

We are working to restart the plant, along with a commitment to save jobs This is a fair process of transformation and following the European principle - No one will be left behind, pointed out Kristina Lazarova.

He added that reclamation as an important part of the transformation The European representatives and experts from the Bulgarian institutions examined the site designated for a photovoltaic park In this connection, the topic of reclamation of the coal dump was also raised.

This is the land on which the "Bobov Dol" FPP will be located, which is extremely suitable according to all environmental assessments for this activity With the construction of the photovoltaic park, the sludge storage facility will not only be used, but not a single acre of fertile land will be affected.

Sofia Alves paid special attention to the local government as an engine for the development of the region She encouraged dialogue between business and mayors in order to achieve that image, towards which the district aspires.

"You are in the best position to assess the potential of the region We are familiar with the challenges facing Bulgaria in the decarbonization process.

We understand that this will come at a cost It is for this purpose that the Just Transition Fund was created," she said.

The southwestern coal region with the greatest readiness for the transition After an in-depth discussion about the problems in the region, everyone united around the thesis that work could be done to separate the coal regions - the southwestern and the one in the Mariska basin The reason is that "Bobov Dol" TPP is most ready for transformation, and "Toplofikatsia Pernik" is only a step behind, unlike the huge central region, whose plans are extremely unclear.

The opening of the modernization fund as an instrument was also discussed which could help large combustion plants.

According to Lyuboslav Spasov - executive director of TPP "Bobov dol", the 140 million euros set aside in the Recovery and Sustainability Plan for the Southwest coal region are intended for small and medium-sized companies and are extremely insufficient for the transition to take place "We are a living enterprise and we have a future.

As the largest, we have a commitment not only to preserve production, but to preserve the region," said Engineer Spasov The regional governor of Kyustendil, Alexander Pandurski, as well as the mayors of Dupnitsa and Bobov dol, Metodi Chimev and Elsa Velichkova, testified to full support in the process of transformation and work to implement all investment plans.

The local government in support of the potential of the region "We have fertile land, incredible nature, mineral springs, old culture and the best economy TPP "Bobov dol" has a friend and partner in the person of the regional administration and the state, because of the huge burden it has shouldered and the investments it has made," emphasizes Kyustendil Regional Governor Alexander Pandurski.

The mayors of Dupnitsa and Bobov dol also expressed their unreserved support and hope that the united efforts will preserve and develop the municipalities In Pernik, together with the city's deputy mayor, Stefan Krastev, the European representatives looked at gas cogeneration, which will very soon replace 40% of coal in energy production.

"We are here to hear you," Sofia Alvesh said at the beginning of the meeting at "Toplofikatsia Pernik" The concrete plans of the two major transformation centers, together with the desire to preserve and develop the region, as well as the preservation of jobs showed a precise following of the European policy for a just transition.

Fair to the country, the region, the sector and the people .