Without serious investments in the energy grid, energy storage and energy management, solar energy may turn from a solution into a problem.
This was stated in an interview with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) by Dimitar Beleliev, PhD, Chairman of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Association of Electrical Engineering and Electronics (BASEL), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Energy Repair Base (CERB), and founder of AmonRa Energy, commenting on the challenges facing the sector this year.

He pointed out that Bulgaria is already a leader in terms of the pace of solar capacity deployment and interest in renewable energy sources (RES), but that the real challenges are only now beginning.
“The main problem is that massive solar power plants are being built on a relatively small and unprepared electricity grid. This leads to restrictions, imbalances and real technical risks for the system. The question is no longer how many megawatts we will install, but how we will integrate them. The role of the state here is key, and I hope this will be understood and addressed in a timely manner. At the moment, the state is a passive observer,” Beleliev said.

According to him, Bulgaria’s future leadership should be measured by the quality of integration, not merely by the quantity of installed capacity.

In his view, the biggest mistake in the RES sector is the belief that bigger power plants are always better.
“Scaling up single large capacities is harmful to the grid and increases systemic risks. A truly effective system is distributed generation, which is more flexible, more resilient and closer to the real needs of the economy,” he noted.

Asked what the best energy solution for Bulgaria is—solar, batteries or a mix of sources—Beleliev explained that it lies in solar systems combined with properly sized batteries located at the consumers themselves.
“This is the most important point. When energy is produced and stored close to where it is consumed, significant transmission and balancing costs are eliminated, grid load is reduced and system resilience is increased. Centralized solutions have their place, but the future lies in a decentralized model that turns consumers into active participants in the energy system rather than passive payers of network costs,” he emphasized.

Regarding the fact that Bulgaria’s energy sector relies more on emergency repairs than on planned maintenance, Beleliev noted that the country has historically lacked a culture of prevention.
“Since the days of the centrally planned economy, the focus has been on repairing failures rather than preventing them. In modern energy systems, however, prevention is a key factor for stable and efficient operation. Planned maintenance, diagnostics and timely modernization are significantly cheaper and more reliable than emergency repairs. This change is not only a matter of investment, but also of management philosophy,” he said.

Beleliev stressed that the labor market in the energy sector is seriously distorted. According to him, the state artificially increases employment, often without a link to efficiency, which leads to a lack of motivation and a drain of skilled workers from the private sector.
“At the same time, loss-making enterprises are being maintained, blocking resources and human potential. Business offers a clear approach—real labor market rules, incentives for qualification and productivity, and an end to subsidizing inefficient structures. Only a competitive environment can retain and develop talent. There are more than enough examples of state-owned enterprises with staff numbers far exceeding those of comparable private companies,” he said.

Beleliev called for the liberalization of the energy sector to take place as soon as possible.
“Only a free market can solve many of the chronic problems of Bulgaria’s energy sector—inefficiency, cross-subsidization and lack of transparency. Delays only deepen existing imbalances. For consumers in need of support, clear and targeted financing mechanisms can be found without blocking the market. At present, more than one third of the market does not function freely in practice,” he warned.

He also noted that Bulgaria’s electrical industry is traditionally a strong exporter, while the domestic market is dominated by supplies from third countries.
“Price competition with companies from China, Turkey and other countries is practically impossible due to the use of non-market subsidy mechanisms. The solution is to restore the logic that European funds should support European manufacturers. The European Commission allows Member States, in strategic sectors and for sectoral contracting authorities, to limit participation in tenders to European manufacturers, CEFTA countries or states with free trade agreements with the European Union. In many European countries, this is already established practice,” he explained, adding that Bulgaria should adopt such an approach as soon as possible.

Asked whether Bulgaria has potential for rooftop installations, Beleliev said the potential is enormous.
“In Sofia alone, there is realistically capacity for around 500 MW of rooftop installations. These are capacities that can be integrated quickly, without additional strain on the grid and without conflicts with agriculture or infrastructure. Rooftop systems are the most logical path for sustainable RES development in Bulgaria, and efforts should be focused in this direction,” he noted.

According to Beleliev, membership in the eurozone opens new prospects, primarily in terms of trust, predictability and access to capital.
“For the energy and electrical engineering sector, this means easier financing of long-term investments, lower currency risk and better integration with European markets,” he said.

He believes that the eurozone is not just a financial instrument, but a signal of stability that matters to investors, partners and industry as a whole.
“In this sense, it is also good promotion for Bulgaria, placing us in a different category of trust. The question is whether we will use this opportunity purposefully—for the development of the real economy and the modernization of infrastructure, rather than merely in a formal way,” Beleliev concluded.

Source: https://www.bta.bg/bg/BTA-plus/1058568-bez-investitsii-v-energiynata-mrezha-solarnata-energiya-vmesto-reshenie-mozhe-d