Bulgaria’s power exports will fall by 83% year-on-year in 2007 as units 1 and 2 of the Kozloduy nuclear plant are decommissioned for 2007. Bulgaria’s economy and energy minister Rumen Ovcharov warned on Sunday (10th September) that exports will drop from an expected record 9 TWh in 2006 to 1.5 TWh in 2007, according to local newswire reports.
This is due to the decommissioning of the 440 MW units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant as part of the country’s accession to the EU. While the government anticipates no problems in meeting domestic demand, the economic value of power exports will hit the country hard.
Previously, Ovcharov has stated that Bulgaria will lose EUR 1.62 billion from the closure of the two units at its Kozloduy nuclear power plant. In addition, the losses from all four units (units 5 and 6 are both 1,000 MW, and are licensed until 2009) are worth EUR 2.88 billion. The government called on bidders for the tender to build the new Belene nuclear plant to speed up construction in their submitted plans in July.
Bulgaria exported 8.4 TWh in 2006, according to UCTE.
(THE HEREN REPORTS - EDEM 10175  / 11 September 2006)