Since 2010, Bulgaria has increased the share of renewable energy from 8% to 15%, maintained the share of liquid fossil fuels and nuclear energy, and reduced the share of solid fossil fuels from 37% to 26%, according to the data published by the European Commission.
The EC said that the share of fossil fuel import dependence in Bulgaria has dropped from 40.2% to 36.1%, adding that Bulgaria has diversified its gas suppliers but remains dependent on fossil fuels. Data supplied by the EC shows that the share of energy poor people in Bulgaria is dropping, but remains almost three times higher than the EU average.
In 2020, 22.2% of citizens in the country were late paying their energy bills, compared to 19.2% in 2021 and 18.8 % in 2022, while the EU average was 6.9 % in 2022. The number of energy poor people in the EU has increased by 0.4 % in the past two years.
It is recommended that Bulgaria further reduces its dependence on fossil fuels and accelerates the deployment of renewable energy capacity.
According to the EC, Bulgaria needs to increase energy storage capacity, make the energy system more flexible and further develop the electricity grid. The EC recommends improving the digitization of the electricity grid and its interconnection with the grids of neighboring countries.
