On March 14 2024, the long-awaited investment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan for “Support to New Renewable Electricity Generation and Energy Storage Capacity” has been opened for applying. The main objective of the investment is to contribute to increasing the share of clean energy in Bulgaria’s energy mix on the path to climate neutrality by providing support for the construction and grid integration of an additional 1,425 MW of new renewable energy (RES) generation capacity, along with 350 MW of local electricity storage (LBESS), compared to 2022. The total amount of grant funding under the Investment Implementation Mechanism C4.I6 “Support for new renewable electricity generation and storage capacities” is BGN 663 432 375.
2 separate procedures have been launched:
This procedure aims at the construction of a minimum of 200 MW of RES generation capacity in combination with a minimum of 100 MW of batteries, with a maximum grant amount of BGN 107 570 650. It is targeted at solar and/or wind power generation installations with an installed capacity of 200 kW up to 2 MW, with the grant being in the form of investment aid for the storage facility only.
The maximum amount of funding per project proposal per project is up to BGN 35 854 000.
The maximum grant intensity is up to 50% of the eligible costs, but not more than BGN 1 075 706 (excluding VAT) per MW of installed capacity of the LBESS.
This procedure aims at the construction of a minimum of 940 MW of RES generation capacity in combination with a minimum of 200 MW of batteries, with a maximum grant amount of BGN 427 544 438.
The maximum amount of funding per project per proposal is up to BGN 58 674 900.
The maximum grant intensity is set up to 50% of the eligible costs, but no more than BGN 743 215 (excluding VAT) per MW of installed capacity of the LBESS.
Both procedures are open to both new capacity and installed capacity that is connected to the grid and commissioned after 1 January 2023.
An applicant submitting an investment proposal under one of the two procedures may not submit the same or different proposal for the same energy facility to apply under the other procedure.
Investment aid under both calls is only granted for new LBESS to be built as part of combined renewable electricity generation projects (wind and/or solar) and for LBESS (‘behind the meter’) where both elements are components of the same investment or where the LBESS is connected to an existing renewable electricity generation installation.
The application deadlines for both calls start today and will run until 4:30 pm EET on June 12th 2024.
APSTE has been actively involved in the public consultation process for the tender. And to help future investors in energy storage systems make their decisions, the Association organized the webinar “How to make a business plan for industrial batteries?” (in Bulgarian), in which experts discussed the main parameters (technical, financial and market) that should be included in the business plan of such an investment.
