AES Plans 80-Megawatt Solar Park for Bulgaria

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--United States-based independent power producer AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) (Arlington, Virginia) has plans to build a 300 million euro ($396 million) solar power park in Bulgaria.

The revelation about the planned 80-megawatt (MW) solar park was made by United States ambassador James Warlick in Sofia, alongside senior AES executives. AES is prepared to fund the project without any support, claiming it will cost the Bulgarian government nothing.

"AES has been waiting for six months to go ahead with its investment, which costs nothing to the Bulgarian government," Warlick told a joint press conference with representatives of AES Solar Energy. However, Warlick claimed that the Bulgarian government will have to amend its renewable energy bill so that there is a guarantee that any energy produced will be purchased at fixed prices for 20 years after the plant becomes operational. However, the Bulgarian government does not wish to alter the renewable energy bill, claiming that this would cost the state millions of euros in subsidies.

The proposed plant would be located at an unused air field near Silistra, in northeastern Bulgaria. Bulgaria is undergoing a renewable energy boom at present. The country has committed to the European Union (E.U.) to produce 16% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Today, less than 8% comes from renewables, while 83% of the total comes from coal (43%) and nuclear power (40%).

AES intends to develop the Silstra project in two phases, beginning with a generating capacity of 64 MW, which will be increased by a further 16 MW in Phase II. The company claims the solar park could be operational by end of 2012. AES has applied for a 20-year permit to produce solar energy.

AES is already active in the Bulgarian energy market. Last October, the company's wind-energy subsidiary, AES Geo Energy, commissioned the 156-MW St. Nikola windfarm in Kavarna. The windfarm, which uses 52 V-90 wind turbines from Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) (Randers, Denmark), is the largest in Bulgaria and one of the largest in eastern Europe.

On a larger scale, AES looks set to commission the 670-MW Maritsa East 1 thermal power plant, near Stara Zagora in southeastern Bulgaria, in October. Begun in 2005, after years of setbacks, the 644 million euro ($850 million) project is located next to an existing state-owned power plant. Alstom SA (Paris, France) is the main contractor for the construction of the plant, which is using two high-efficiency advanced-cycle pulverised coal-fired boilers to drive a pair of 335-MW steam turbines.

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