The latest amendments to the Energy Act voted in the National Assembly will additionally allow 12.2 terawatt hours per year to be traded on the free market, which in the current pricing decision form the energy mix for the regulated market, Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) Chair Ivan Ivanov said on Thursday during the “Industrial Triathlon: Climate, Energy, Environment” forum organised by the Bulgarian Federation of Industrial Energy Consumers (BFIEC).

According to him, it follows from the removal of the role of the National Electricity Company (NEC) as a public supplier and the obligation of the final suppliers to purchase the necessary quantities of energy from the Bulgarian Independent Energy Exchange (IBEX). 

The new European legislation provides for the extension of the functions of the Organization of European Energy Regulators (ACER) to jointly investigate with national regulators cases of abuse in cross-border electricity trading, Ivanov added. This process will be strengthened with the development of a unified European wholesale electricity market.

The development of such a market implies a significant increase in cross-border interconnection capacities. European legislation requires connectivity to be at least 15% of the installed capacity in the country concerned, the EWRC Chair said. Ivanov gave the example that for Bulgaria this capacity is currently 13,500 MW. By comparison, cross-border connectivity with Romania is 2,300 MW and 1,500 MW with Greece.