Bulgaria’s ESO to invest €511 M in power grid upgrades
ESO has announced its plans for power grid upgrades and expansion by 2023.
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Bulgaria, Sofia: ESO has announced its plans for power grid upgrades and expansion by 2023.
Bulgaria’s state-owned Electricity System Operator (ESO) said it plans to spend almost 1 billion levs (€511.3 million) in power grid upgrades and expansion by 2030 under a joint Bulgarian-Romanian project which has just been fast-tracked by the European Commission. The EU executive has put the Carmen II project on its list of cross-border projects of common interest, enabling faster roll-out and potential EU funding allocation.
ESO is partnering on the project with Romanian peer Transelectrica and power and gas distributor Delgaz Grid. Investments will target the expansion and digitalisation of the two countries’ grids, in part to support the addition of new renewable sources. The implementation of new smart grids will boost capacity and connectivity with Moldova, Hungary and Ukraine.
ESO will build new fully digitised 400/110 kV substations, overhaul and upgrade existing substations, and transform them from a low voltage level of 220/110 kV to high-voltage 400/110 kV. Additionally, it plans to build 222 km of new 400 kV digitised power lines.
There will be a focus on capacity expansion in northeastern Bulgaria in order to harness the region’s high potential for renewable energy production estimated at more than 8,000 MW, including in the form of green hydrogen. Most existing or planned onshore wind capacity in Bulgaria is centred in that region, while the country is yet to install offshore wind capacity. More capacity in northeastern Bulgaria is also needed to secure renewable power transmission along the cross-border North-South priority corridor.
With EU electricity consumption expected to grow by 60% and cross-border transmission capacity due to double by 2030, the EU Commission has proposed an action plan to expedite concrete actions on improving grid efficiency. As much as €584 billion in investments will be necessary to ready transmission grids for a more digitised, decentralised and flexible system.
Source: SeeNews
#Bulgaria#Delgaz Grid#Electricity System Operator#power grid#Transelectrica