Bulgaria Energy Environment Review
The main purpose of the Energy and Environment Review (EER) was to develop and test a methodology to better integrate energy sector development and investment plans with Bulgaria's environmental objectives. It was undertaken at the request of...
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| Format: | ESMAP Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2002/10/5619606/bulgaria-energy-environment-review http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19897 |
| Summary: | The main purpose of the Energy and
Environment Review (EER) was to develop and test a
methodology to better integrate energy sector development
and investment plans with Bulgaria's environmental
objectives. It was undertaken at the request of the
country's State Agency for Energy and Energy Resources
(SAEER). The EER highlights the intrinsic trade-offs between
Bulgaria's objective to ensure least-cost energy supply
to the country and its concurrent objectives of being a
dominant energy supplier in the region, minimizing its
dependence on imported energy, and meeting its national and
international environmental commitments. Achievement of
these objectives is complicated by Bulgaria's heavy
reliance on electricity to meet its own energy needs, the
virtual absence of natural gas in the consumption mix of
non-industrial consumers, and the fact that except for
environmentally polluting lignite, the country does not have
economical energy resources. Since the bulk of
Bulgaria's electricity (about 80 percent) is generated
from nuclear fuel and indigenous lignite, a disproportionate
reliance on electricity would be costly, particularly as the
country strives to meet the nuclear safety and environmental
compliance requirements for accession to the European Union.
Growing electricity exports over the last few years,
however, have been good for Bulgaria, both from a financial
point of view and in projecting Bulgaria as a stable and
reliable source of electricity. Under these circumstances,
crafting an energy supply strategy that is cost-effective,
provides adequate energy security, and reinforces the
national goals of economic growth and poverty alleviation
will be challenging. Formulation of such a strategy could
benefit from a wider debate among key stakeholders, such as
energy suppliers, industrial and other consumers,
policymakers, regulators, and investors. The Energy and
Environment Review provides a useful analytical framework
for such a debate. |
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