Romania, Bulgaria to Collaborate on Energy and Infrastructure Projects

Romania and Bulgaria will consider collaborating to explore energy and infrastructure projects to improve energy connectivity and security in Southeast Europe.

In the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the relationship between the Romanian and Bulgarian governments has strengthened to improve cooperation in the Balkan region.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov met with his Romanian colleague Nicolae Ciuca in Bucharest on April 29 to address this project and other bilateral and regional cooperation areas. Infrastructure projects and the energy problem were the topics of conversation between the two officials.

According to local media, Bulgaria proposed the development of a cooperative offshore wind farm in the Black Sea, near the northern coastal town of Shabla.

Danish and German investors with relevant project experience have already expressed interest in such a possible development. Still, the lack of a regulatory framework is now the most significant roadblock.

As reported by SeeNews, Bulgaria has an offshore wind potential of 116 GW, of which only roughly 26 GW can be produced at the moment. Europe has approximately 116 offshore wind farms installed across 12 nations, with most of the capacity in North Sea areas. More countries, notably Poland, Greece, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, are beginning to open their territorial seas to floating and fixed offshore wind farms.

The EU published a roadmap to enhance offshore renewable energy capacity in late 2020 to reach 60 GW by 2030 and 300 GW by 2050. The decision will go a long way toward assisting the bloc in weaning itself off Russian gas, especially now that Gazprom has stopped supplying Poland and Bulgaria.

WPD Offshore, a German renewables company, announced intentions to build two 1.9GW wind farms in Romanian Black Sea waters in February. Last month, WPD told Sofia-based media that it intends two 75-100 MW wind park projects near the Bulgarian town of Balchik on the Black Sea’s northern shore.