SOFIA (Bulgaria), February 19 (SeeNews) – The deficit of Bulgarian state-operated electricity company NEK may shrink by about 100 million levs ($58.3 million/51 million euro) by the end of the year if the cabinet implements planned measures for its reduction, local media reported on Thursday, quoting the country's energy minister.
The company's deficit exceeds 3 billion levs, of which 600 million levs were accumulated in 2014, news agency Focus quoted Temenuzhka Petkova as saying.
The measures that will help reduce the amount include the revision of the energy regulations and the negotiation of the long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) between NEK and the operators of two thermal power plants (TPP), the media said.
“The legislative measures, which were proposed in the amendments to the energy law, are to exclude from the energy mix the TPPs that do not produce in a highly efficient way,” Petkova was quoted as saying.
Bulgaria is in advanced negotiations to revise the PPAs it has signed with US companies AES and ContourGlobal, which operate the Maritsa Iztok 1 and Maritza Iztok 3 TPP, respectively, she added.
In December last year, the Bulgarian energy regulator requested that NEK open talks on revising the terms of the PPAs. Last month Petkova said she expects the negotiations to be finalised by end-March.
The TPPs are part of the country's largest energy complex Maritsa Iztok, located in the southeastern region of Stara Zagora. The complex hosts lignite coal mines and three coal-fired power plants. ContourGlobal acquired a majority stake in the Maritsa Iztok 3 TPP from Italy's Enel in June 2011. AES launched the Maritza Iztok 1 power plant in 2011.
NEK is a 100%-subsidiary of state-operated Bulgarian Energy Holding.
(1 euro=1.95583 Bulgarian levs)