Bulgaria eases rules for PV projects for own use

The motion, proposed in March, was adopted on Thursday with 99 votes in favour, nine against and 32 abstentions, according to a vote tally on the National Assembly website.

The legislation foresees the installation of solar panels on the rooftops or facades of buildings or properties in urban areas, increasing the cap for total potential installed capacity to 5 MW from 1 MW.

"The procedure is being significantly simplified, so that it would take a lot less than one year as at present, probably one to two months," MP and Green Movement co-chair Vladislav Panev said in an interview with private broadcaster TV1. He added the move is a small step forward, because current investor interest is focused on the installation of larger solar panels to produce surplus electricity for selling back to the grid.

The new legislation, however, does not offer provisions for individual owners, households or small businesses to sell surplus power back to the electricity grid so further changes will be necessary, and this could happen as soon as in the next few weeks, Panev added.

Large investors are at present seeking approval from the ministry of energy for the installation of a combined capacity of 17,000 MW, he explained.

Earlier this week, the European Commission recommended to Bulgaria to accelerate the diversification of its gas supply routes and sources away from Russia, reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and boost the share of renewables in its energy mix.

The EU has pledged to make the installation of rooftop solar compulsory for all new residential buildings by 2029. As part of its new REPowerEU Plan designed to end dependency on Russian fossil fuels, the bloc is developing a strategy to bring online over 320 GW of solar photovoltaic by 2025, more than doubling combined 2020 capacity.