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“In order to develop energy communities, which are a new type of market actor, there must be an incentive for their creation. And for such an incentive to exist, there must be a fully liberalised energy market for residential end-users of electricity,” said Mr. Nikolay Nalbantov, Director of Energy Strategies and Policies for Sustainable Energy Development at the Ministry of Energy, during the national conference “Energy Communities: Drivers of the Energy Transition in Bulgaria”, held on June 18 in Sofia.
The conference, organised by the Black Sea Energy Research Centre (BSERC) as part of the final events of the SHAREs project, highlighted the fundamental role of community energy projects in the energy transition. Among the topics discussed were the registration regime and control of energy communities, the need for financial incentives, the analysis of their development and accumulated experience, energy connectivity and sharing within communities, as well as support tools and mechanisms for emerging citizen initiatives.
A number of best practices from Germany, Austria and Georgia were presented, as well as the emerging local initiatives from the municipalities of Gabrovo, Burgas and Sofia – Vitosha District.
The event was attended by leading national and European experts, representatives of the energy sector, local authorities and civil society organisations, all seeking sustainable solutions to stimulate the development of energy communities in Bulgaria.