March 14 (SeeNews) - Within the next five years Bulgaria aims to have 10,000 charge points for electric vehicles (EVs) that will be powered by renewable sources, non-governmental organisation Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum said on Monday, quoting a document signed by sector organisations.
The installation of adequate nationwide EV charging infrastructure forms part of the goals under a memorandum of cooperation that was signed last month by the state-run Electricity System Operator (ESO), the association of Bulgarian municipalities, the energy industry chamber, the electric vehicles association BAEPS, electric vehicles industrial cluster EVIC, as well as the EV owners' association, the Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum said in a statement.
The partners will collaborate in exploring the state of the infrastructure, current and estimated geographical locations as well as the financial appraisal of the required infrastructure resources, the NGO added.
Under the agreement, ESO, which operates 297 substations across Bulgaria, will plug the EV charging stations into its grid once they are constructed. There will be both slow and fast EV charge points, which would serve electric cars as well as electric public transport and heavy industry vehicles.
By 2030, EVs in Bulgaria are forecast to reach 200,000, with a combined 600,000 MWh of annual power consumption, according to ESO experts' forecasts. Their number would potentially increase to 3.5 million by 2050, with respective total power consumption rising to 10 million MWh per year.
At present, the total number of automobiles in Bulgaria run on the fuel equivalent of 45 million MWh. The mass spread of electric vehicles by 2050 is estimated to bring about a threefold decrease in electricity consumption in the transport sector.
The Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum is an organisation that brings together individuals and organisations involved in the energy sector both nationally and internationally.