Regional governor in Bulgaria halts plans for big solar on agri land

The governor of the southern Bulgarian region of Burgas, Plamen Yanev, has halted a decision by the local authority in Sredets municipality to allow the installation of photovoltaic (PV) panels on 828 hectares (2,047 acres) of agricultural land, following a complaint by four villages.

Sredec Solar BG Ltd had put forward plans for a huge PV park project of 550 MW, including substations as well as battery and hydrogen energy storage.

In an announcement on Monday, the Burgas regional administration said that the project concerns a large part of the agricultural territory around the four villages as shown in a picture accompanying the announcement. It added that Sredets municipal council’s decision to change the purpose of the land to electricity production is not compliant with the law as the change is not properly justified.

According to publicly available information from the Bulgarian Registry Agency, Sredec Solar BG is owned by OMEGA AGRO INVEST, which in turn is owned by Plovdiv, Bulgaria-based AGRION INVEST AD.

There is a decision by the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water - Burgas from April that the planned land purpose change would not require an environmental assessment.

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