INTERVIEW - Bulgaria, Romania Need To Combat Red Tape To Raise Share of Renewables in Energy Mix

European Union members Bulgaria and Romania need to streamline their administrative procedures to enhance the development of green energy and meet the targets for raising the share of renewable sources in their energy production, a senior official of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said.

"There are general obstacles like slow and in some cases over-complicated administrative procedures and bureaucracy. It is very important for both countries to develop their plans taking into account the potential environmental impact on preserved areas of these developments which could undermine their positive effect," Senior Advisor, Power and Utility Team, EBRD, Milko Kovachev, said in an exclusive interview for SeeNews.

He spoke prior to the 6th International Congress and Exhibition on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources to be held in Sofia next month.

"There is also need to expand some of the policies to support renewables, for example in heat production and mobility, which are an important part of achieving the national goals," said Kovachev.

Bulgaria must cover 11% of its gross domestic energy consumption with electricity generated from renewable energy sources by the end of 2010 from less than 10% now and should increase that share to 16% by 2020. Its northern neighbour Romania should increase that share to 24% by 2020.

Here is what else Kovachev told SeeNews:

Q. What obstacles are Bulgaria and Romania facing on the path to meeting their green energy targets by 2020?

A: There are no specific obstacles for Bulgaria and Romania to achieve their respective targets for the share of renewables penetration in their final energy mix by 2020. However, the countries have to prepare their National Action Plans by June 2010 and show how they will meet those targets.

Q: What is the potential of Southeast Europe in developing clean energy?

A: Southeast Europe has a great untapped potential for renewables with its unused hydro, biomass and solar potential. Energy efficiency, however, remains the top priority for this region. The region is reach in forests and agricultural land with associated biomass production. The region is as well a mountainous one and has still unutilised hydro potential which could be further developed.

Q: Which of the countries in the region has the biggest potential to attract investments in green energy?

A: An important prerequisite for investors is the availability of stable economy and good business climate. A specific prerequisite for renewables is the availability of stable, predictable and well functioning legal and regulatory framework and institutions supporting renewables.

From this point of view Bulgaria is offering quite an enabling framework for investments in wind, small hydro and solar PV electricity generation; Romania with its well developed green certificates support scheme seems to be more and more attractive for investors, Turkey with its sizeable market and reforms has also great potential in wind and solar energy.

The remaining countries from the region are on their way to setting appropriate enabling framework, for example Serbia recently approved a set of feed-in tariffs which might prove to be investment-friendly for renewables.

Q: What investments in renewables in the SEE region are expected in the following years?

A: It is difficult to predict the size of investments. Investor interest, however, has shifted in the last year from the more mature and saturated renewables markets like Germany, Denmark and Spain toward the emerging markets and in particular the region of Southeast Europe and Central Europe.

Q: Do the countries of the SEE region have the potential to produce green energy equipment?

A: The region has a long tradition in production of components for hydropower plants and small turbines, solar panels, as well as small and medium-sized biomass heating boilers. It could be observed, however, that more initiatives are popping up in an effort to take part in the production value chain of newer renewable technologies as solar panels and heat pumps. But still the majority of new technologies are imported.

NOTE: The EE & RES Business Event in Southeast Europe organised by Bulgarian-based Via Expo Ltd. (www.viaexpo.com) will be held in Sofia from 14th to 16th April 2010. Please see http://viaexpo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30&Itemid=40&lang=en

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