The Energy Exchange is rescheduled for the middle of 2012

“The launch of the Bulgarian Energy Exchange has been rescheduled for the middle of 2012,” announced sources of Klassa from the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism. The reason for the delay is that amendments to the Energy Law, which regulates the activity of the energy market, have still not been drafted and enforced. The initial expectations of the ministry were that, by the end of this year, the Energy Exchange will become operational, but the launch of the system has been delayed by several months. Currently, the Electricity System Operator (ESO) is testing the new rules for the operation of the free electricity market.

The delayed restructuring of the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) is another problem, which the free energy market in Bulgaria is facing. As early as March, ESO and Bulgartransgaz had to be detached from the holding structure in order for the requirements of the third liberalisation package to be met and the basis for the freely negotiated prices of electricity and gas to be created.

“The establishment of the Electricity Exchange in the country is crucial for market development,” emphasised Martin Tafrov, Head of the Electricity Sales Department at the Kozloduy NPP (Nuclear Power Plant). According to him, at present, mainly two plants deliver electricity to the open market - the Kozloduy NPP and Maritsa Iztok 2 TPP (Thermo-electric Power Plant), which are owned by BEH. Tafrov explained that the platform was supposed to start operating as early as the middle of 2007, when the energy market in the country was formally liberalised. He said that a better option for our country was to join one of the operating Electricity Exchanges in the region. “The Bulgarian exchange will hardly become a liquid one because there are only two major producers of electricity attached to it,” believe experts from the NPP. They are planning to start offering the electricity produced at different tariffs, as businesses demanded.
“Some 40% of the electricity generated by the NPP in 2010 was for the free market. This is about 5.6 million MWh,” explained further Tafrov.

“In Bulgaria, the market is over-regulated, prices are kept artificially low and the major part of the electricity produced still passes through one trader,” said yesterday Vladimir Dichev, Executive Director of CEZ Trade Bulgaria. He added that the final price of electricity for households is about 35% lower than the price on the wholesale market.

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