Electricity market

The participants in a discussion on Bulgaria's energy exchange agreed that legal amendments were to pave the way for a change of the model so that the full liberalization of the market was achieved by the beginning of 2016.

The Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) will present Tuesday the possible launch date and the mechanism of functioning of the Bulgarian energy exchange.

One of the reasons behind the delay of the Bulgarian energy exchange is the striving to protect local electricity producers and the external electricity market, according to experts in the sphere, as cited by the Bulgarian National Radio.

The World Bank will draft a comprehensive review of the financial state of Bulgaria's energy sector and identify steps towards full liberalization of the electricity market by the end of the year under a deal signed on Friday.

The first reading of Energy Act amendments envisaging the establishment of an Electricity System Security Fund is to take place on Tuesday.

The changes were proposed by Bulgaria's Energy Ministry in a bid to curb the deficit at the National Electric Company (NEK), according to reports of the Bulgarian National Radio.

Ivan Ivanov, Chair of Bulgaria's Commission for Energy and Water Regulation, has underscored that EU law entitles large industrial enterprises to discounts on the "obligation to society" surcharge included in electricity prices.

It is unrealistic to suggest that electricity prices will increase by 30-40% after the launch of the power exchange, according to Ivan Ivanov, Chair of Bulgaria's Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR).

The organization in charge of creating a Pan-European free energy market on Monday criticized Macedonia for its failure to liberalize its energy market, saying it had breached consumers' rights and protected the monopoly of the current supplier, Austria's EVN.

The electricity market mechanism implemented in Romania contributes to the safe operation of the national electricity system, enabling it to dependably cover consumption needs, Marian Cernat, director of the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), told the Forum of Electricity Network Operators and Power Suppliers.

Photo credit: (c) CRISTIAN NISTOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Nord Pool Spot, the energy exchange running Europe's largest electricity market, signed Wednesday an agreement also to manage activity at IBEX, the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange.

As many as 380 companies from 20 states trade on the Nord Pool Spot. IBEX, on the other hand, was recently granted a 10-year license to organize the market in Bulgaria.

Romania's electricity market will be affected this year by the implementation of the restructuring plans at the Hunedoara and Oltenia Energy Complexes, but these measures are set forth in the understandings with the international financial institutions, the stakes being the state aid, says Competition Council's President Bogdan Chiritoiu.