Our power system needs new base capacities

Prof. Dr. Eng. Valentin Kolev, Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Energy Professionals, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at TU - Sofia, "The World is Business". The reason why electricity prices are high across Europe most likely lies in the price of natural gas. Most likely, many installations have transformed their energy raw material from coal to natural gas. Now, in fact, the price has become very high. This was stated by Prof. Dr. Eng. Valentin Kolev, Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Energy Professionals, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at TU - Sofia, on the air of the show "The World is Business" with host Ivailo Lakov. "It is very difficult for the installed coal power capacities in the EU to be replaced by renewable energy sources (RES) to reach a carbon-free energy sector. The reasons for this are related to mastering the regime of active power and energy, as well as the participation of these capacities in primary, secondary, and tertiary regulation of the electricity system as a whole in Europe." Prof. Valentin Kolev believes that the peaks in electricity prices on the "Day Ahead" exchange cannot be attributed to corrupt corporate interests, because the platform itself is administered by Nordis Group. "The administration process is not on our territory," stated the energy expert on air. "This is a platform that monitors the function of supply with the function of demand for electricity. Where the two functions intersect, the price is determined. A reason for the high price could be a deficit of energy." Valentin Kolev is of the opinion that the state's main energy sources ("Kozloduy NPP", "Maritza East 2 TPP" and both American plants belonging to NEK) should generate profit. "State regulation here could be applied, provided that this is not seen by European institutions as impermissible state aid." These accumulated funds could be directed towards energy-intensive production or towards those that cannot be competitive at the current electricity price. "My opinion is that these business compensations of 110 BGN per megawatt-hour cannot be taken from anywhere else. They must be taken in the form of dividends from energy companies to the Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and subsequently provided through the corresponding administrative procedure." For the industry, it would be best to strive for futures deals, believes Prof. Kolev. He is of the opinion that Bulgarian condensing power plants (TPP) should operate for as long as possible, because the sharp transition to carbon-free energy will inevitably lead to an electricity deficit. The guest added that as a temporary measure, a transformation could be made and from coal the main energy raw material could become natural gas. "We can use RES or turn to the power of water. However, we must not give up the idea of building base capacities. We are talking about "Belene NPP", and why not the 7th unit of "Kozloduy NPP"."

See the article here

in Bloombergtv.bg, 03.11.2021.