Bulgarian caretaker Minister of Economy Nikola Stoyanov said at the conference on energy transition that Bulgarian should make the most of the opportunities offered by REPowerEU while achieving long-term and sustainable results.
Minister Stoyanov recalled that each EU member state will add a REPowerEU chapter to its National Recovery and Resilience Plan, which will help absorb 20 billion euros in grant aid for investments in reforms in the sector, of which some 480 million euros are earmarked for Bulgaria.
According to him, this will enable Bulgarian industry to decarbonize, improve its energy efficiency and increase its share in the Bulgarian economy. The new plan is supposed to help all small and medium-sized enterprises which are worst affected by the high energy prices.
He noted that the significance of energy independence and building new-generation generating capacities to phase out the carbon- intensive capacities was clearly demonstrated last year .
He emphasized that the war in Ukraine made Europe think about the extent of its energy independence. Pressed by the challenges, Europe managed to reach solutions in a matter of days that had been delayed by years. He recalled that in 2020 Europe relied on Russia for more than half of its solid fossil fuels (mainly coal) and 43 % of its natural gas.
