SOFIA — Bulgaria plans to overcome its overwhelming dependence on Russian energy by building new gas pipeline links with neighboring Greece, Romania, Turkey and Serbia, a draft energy strategy showed on Monday.
It also seeks Western investors for a planned new nuclear power plant at Belene, aims to fight more effectively climate change and improve energy efficiency.
"Bulgaria secures 70 percent of its gross energy consumption by imports. The dependence on imports of natural gas, crude oil and nuclear fuel … is traditionally linked with the Russian Federation," the strategy to 2020 said.
Sofia plans to have the new gas links ready by 2013, which will allow supplies of Azeri gas to Bulgaria, as well as shipments of liquefied natural gas from producers like Algeria, Egypt, Oman and Nigeria.
It will also work for the building of a new LNG terminal in northern Greece and negotiate the delivery of compressed natural gas by tankers through the Black Sea from Azerbaijan, said the plan, expected to be approved next month.
The center-right government, which has put on hold the building of a new 2,000-megawatt Belene nuclear power project, said it will support nuclear energy, but indicated that it will not invest into it.
The strategy said Belene, for which the previous government had contracted Russia's Atomstoiexport and envisioned at least a 51 percent state stake, can go ahead as a "project with predominant participation of foreign investors."
The government has started to review Russian-backed energy projects, such as Belene, to ensure that they match national interest and the EU agenda since coming to power a year ago.
The new strategy outlined Bulgaria's support for the EU-backed Southern Energy Corridor, which includes the Nabucco gas pipeline, but it did not mention rival Russian project South Stream, planned to pass over its territory.
Last week, the Cabinet referred the gas supply contracts with Gazprom to prosecutors for checks, following a jump in domestic prices and hopes to ensure better terms in pending talks for new contracts this year.
The strategy said existing incentives for new solar, wind and hydro energy will lead to a boom in renewables production by 2020 but will also put at risk the outdated grid and lead to a surge in energy prices.
Its base scenario showed that despite the expected jump in renewables, Sofia would likely miss its target to get 16 percent of its end-energy consumption from them by 2020, and will reach 13 percent.
In an a attempt to keep politically sensitive power prices low and boost competition, the strategy envisions a new electricity exchange by the end of 2011. The strategy did not provide details.
It showed that Bulgaria will remain an electricity exporter through 2020, and 45 percent of its power mix will come from nuclear, 44 percent from thermal power plants and 12 percent from renewable energy sources.
Bulgaria also aims to cut energy intensity, the highest in the EU bloc, by 50 percent in the next 10 years, by improving its outdated energy generators and factories.
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