In Bulgaria, it is useful to have technology that preserves our energy resources - be it water, it is the cleanest resource, or be it coal, which does not pollute when burned, and such technologies exist and are being developed . As long as the state does not focus on technology and on economic utility - nothing good awaits us.
This is what the former Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov told the BNR and commented that whether to stop some capacities or not, should happen in a natural order.
In his words, the land that is part of the "Maritsa-East" mine is the most valuable and the most important resource for creating an energy transformation:
"The Staro Zagora region and the Mariska Basin are uniquely positioned to make a very good energy transformation.
Nikolov pointed out that there is no logic in which the transformation of the sector does not happen smoothly, but "the smooth transition happens through partial gasification, then through green hydrogen, then through renewable energy, etc." .
He emphasized that the gas infrastructure is easily accessible via several routes to the Stara Zagora region, which makes such an energy transition possible.
"There are a lot of lies and a lot of desire to tell myths about what should be done and how. While accusations are being made here about who will lose or gain from the sector, in a market known for its freedom of decision-making and a natural target for rapid decarbonisation, in the US, carbon capture and management legislation has been created. The Mariska Basin is a region where four huge strategic enterprises operated, one of which is now almost defunct. At the time, when two of them had a long-term contract and two were owned by the state, it was very favorable, and then there were some memorandums that everyone jumped at that they were going to interfere with, about how the four companies would create technology solutions for carbon dioxide capture and storage. The problem with generating electricity from coal is not an electricity problem, but a carbon footprint problem. If there is a technology that captures carbon dioxide and removes the dirty part, accordingly reducing the operating costs of carbon emissions, there is no problem", commented the former Minister of Energy.
According to him, in Europe "bureaucratism prevails over rational business decisions useful for the states". In Bulgaria, there is still an option if the state does not interfere, he believes.
In the show "Sunday 150" Alexander Nikolov commented that the upcoming liberalization of the electricity market is being used by some political parties as another scarecrow.