On Monday the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy announced it recently opened public discussion for the country’s first renewable energy auction.

Through the procurement exercise, the Bulgarian authorities expect to allocate 1,425 MW of renewable energy power generation capacity and 350 MW of storage.

Investment support will be provided to build a minimum of 570 MW of power generation capacity and 150 MW storage facilities, the announcement states.

The deadline for submissions is November 6, 2023.

The project is part of the National Recovery and Sustainability Plan (NRRP), which is a four-pronged policy adopted in 2020 aimed at facilitating economic and social recovery in Bulgaria post-COVID-19 pandemic. ‘Green Bulgaria’ is one of the policy targets – with BGN4,499 million ($2439.63) total planned expenditure – and focuses on building up sustainable management of natural resources and “allowing to meet the current needs of the economy and society.”

The policy states that “liberalizing” the country’s electricity market will be fundamental for the implementation and investment of projects, with a “national decarbonization fund” and “energy efficiency programme” also in the works, too.

The Bulgarian government committed to phasing out coal by 2038 in May 2021, and in May 2023 launched a scheme aimed at ramping up installations of solar water heating systems, rooftop PV arrays and batteries.

Bulgaria recorded 1948 MW solar PV installed capacity at the end of 2022, according to recent statistics published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).