“The plan for energy independence of our country has become very clear in recent days and we understand that the introduction of renewable energy must be extremely intensive,” explained the Minister
The green transition is proving to be not just an environmental goal, but a geopolitical and strategic one. Not only for the continent, but also for our country. This is what the Minister of Innovation and Growth Daniel Lorer said in a video address to the participants of the international conference of Dir.bg and 3E-news Green Transition 2022: “The Green Deal – Innovation, Investment and a Just Transition”.
“The Green Transition is proving to be a geopolitical and strategic goal not only for the continent but also for our country. This transition needs to happen evenly – solar panels, batteries, hydrogen – this whole range of technological solutions will be incorporated both in our country and in the EU so that we can free ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Alongside new technologies in entirely new sectors such as renewables and hydrogen, nuclear power is set to be a partner to green sources. It is nuclear power that can provide a constant source of energy when renewables are not working. So they are a natural balancer and, contrary to expectations of past years, Europe now recognises nuclear as an environmentally acceptable source of electricity,” said Lorer.
The Innovation and Growth Minister stressed that despite geopolitical tensions on the continent and the war in Ukraine, the ambitious goal of halving carbon emissions across the continent by 2030 remains on the agenda.
“For Bulgaria, and for the whole of Europe, the green transition is a critical issue these days. A few years ago, Europe became the first continent to realise the scale of the green transition. Europe waved the green flag and made it clear that the transition will be the future of its economy. To this end, the EU has set itself an ambitious target – Fit for 55, or halving carbon emissions across the continent by 2030. In fact, the hostilities there have shown another aspect of our energy policy that has not been considered until now. Namely, the problem of oil and gas supplies from third countries, which create energy insecurity and, consequently, economic insecurity for the entire continent. This is why the green transition turns out to be not only an environmental goal for Europe and Bulgaria”, said Daniel Lorer.
He expressed expectations for serious innovations and investments in the future of nuclear energy in Bulgaria.
“Renewables are already priced quite competitively with fossil fuels. What is going to happen is that energy storage systems, which are still too expensive, will follow this trend and also start to get cheaper. This will happen because Europe and Bulgaria will begin to invest very significant sums in creating not only renewable sources, but also energy storage from them. With the establishment of storage systems and generation capacities in Bulgaria, their price will naturally come down,” the minister said, adding, “The plan for energy independence of our country has become very clear in recent days and we understand that the introduction of renewable energy has to be extremely intensive. In the Recovery and Development Plan, new gas-fired electricity generators have been removed and replaced with a comprehensive programme of renewables, batteries and possibly hydrogen.”
Regarding SMEs, which are under the direct responsibility of the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, the Recovery Plan alone foresees over half a billion investments in Bulgarian SMEs so that they can start the energy transition as quickly as possible – renewables for own use, recycling technologies and financial guarantee instruments for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Along with this half a billion from the SGP directed to the green transition, there are also significant investments from the EU programmes themselves, which are still being refined.
“Given these serious investments in the Bulgarian economy, I am confident that it will become not only greener but also more competitive. The message from the EC is clear – the future of all companies that want to operate on the European market is entirely green”, concluded Daniel Lorer.