Green Energy Rush Could Crash Bulgaria Power Grid

A rush to cash in on incentives to develop renewable energy projects in Bulgaria could end up in so much new supply it could cause blackouts on the national grid, the operator told Reuters on Tuesday.

Ivan Ayolov, chief executive of the state electricity system operator (ESO) said in an interview the government should impose stricter regulations to bar speculators.
Generous government incentives for electricity produced from wind, solar and biomass has led to an avalanche-like increase in projects which totaled over 11,000 megawatts by September.

“This has to be stopped in an intelligent way, otherwise we face a catastrophe,” Ayolov said, adding the situation resembled the Klondike gold rush.

“At this stage the grid is reliable. It’s capacity (for new installations) is 1,800 MW. But it is not reliable when it comes to 10,000 MW.” ESO runs Bulgaria’s high-voltage grids.

Planet Ark