Electricity production in Bulgaria between January and December 2023 declined by 20.8% to 39,593 GWh, the Electricity System Operator (ESO) said.

In the same period, electricity consumption dropped by an annual 4.17% to 36,586 GWh.

In 2022 annual domestic power output increased 5.7% to 50,422 GWh while consumption was 1.8% lower and reached 38,177 GWh.

Bulgaria’s electricity trade surplus decreased by 72.5% in January-December 2023 to 3,367 GWh in 2023, the latest ESO data show.

The output of thermal power plant fell by 25.66% to 31,858 GWh last year.

At the same time, the volume of renewable energy in the transmission network jumped by 59.5% to 2,516 GWh, whereas the volume of renewable energy in the distribution grid grew by 13.74% to 2,486 GWh.

The output of hydropower plants slides 18.6% to 3,093 GWh.