The Bulgarian government has announced that the Maritsa-Iztok Mine complex and the state-owned Maritsa-Iztok 2 coal-fired power plant, operated by the national energy group Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH), will continue operating until 2038 (Novinite, 01/06/2026). This announcement follows discussions with the European Commission aimed at extending the period for coal mining regions to transition to cleaner energy sources rather than a sudden shutdown of coal mines and power plants.
In 2022, the European Commission approved Bulgaria's EUR6.3bn national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP), which included the adoption of a framework plan to phase out coal and lignite by 2038-2040 and an objective of cutting emissions by 40% in the power sector by 2025. In 2023, the Parliament obliged the government to change the NRRP to continue burning coal without restrictions until 2038 and to remove the obligation to cut CO2 emissions from ten thermal power plants by 40% from the 2019 level by 2025 (Enerdata's Global Energy Research)
There are two private foreign companies operating lignite-fired power plants, namely AES that operates the 690 MW Maritza East I (Galabovo) power plant, and ContourGlobal that owns 73% in the 908 MW Maritsa East III lignite-fired power plant. Those power plants lack of competitiveness and may be idled and stopped earlier than 2038 (as of 2030).
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