One of the strategic energy projects for Bulgaria, and for the whole of Europe, is the Vertical Gas Corridor. We are working hard on it and to increase the gas transmission capacity on the Bulgarian-Greek and Bulgarian-Romanian borders, and I am sure that in the next few weeks we will be able to announce the exact schedule for issuing a construction permit for the Kresna section. No more than a month later we will be ready for the next stage, Rupcha-Vetrino, to start the actual construction there.
This was announced by the Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov to the participants in the forum of “The Economist” magazine in Sofia. He emphasized that much more work is still to be done to guarantee the security of energy supplies. “This is the main pillar in which we have invested significant resources over the years“, Stankov pointed out. In his words, when we talk about connectivity, we must ensure that all previous investments will be protected and upgraded. “Here I mean the expansion of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnection, the upcoming capacity tenders, as well as the supplies of liquefied gas through foreign terminals, including Alexandroupolis, where we own a 20% share“, he emphasized.
An emphasis in the Energy Minister's statement during the discussion was that the government has clear and measurable goals aimed at citizens, municipalities and business. In this aspect, the electricity sector is of key importance. “The electricity transmission operator not only maintains the quality of energy supplies on the territory of Bulgaria, but also works hard for energy connectivity along all corridors – from east to west and from north to south“, he added.
“The best energy is the one we produce on our territory. That is why I am glad that I was part of the previous parliament when we made an extremely important decision - the construction of new power units at the Kozloduy NPP with the AP1000 technology, said Minister Stankov. According to him, clear stages and deadlines for the company's work on the new construction have already been set, and the development of the project is going according to plan.
“Bulgaria learned a lesson from the “Belene” project. We will make a final investment decision only when financing is secured,“ he emphasized and defined the project to build new nuclear capacities as strategic for the country.
Minister Stankov also pointed out another topic discussed by the Ministry of Energy on how Bulgaria can build on its capabilities as a net exporter of electricity. “Although the past year was not among the best for our energy sector in terms of production, our country exported 1 million megawatt hours more than it has contributed,“ he also said and expressed confidence that this volume will increase this year and next.