Bulgaria to Halt Electricity Exports on Friday

Bulgaria will halt the exports of electricity as of 01:00 (EET) on Friday, the Energy Ministry says.

Authorities have cited severe weather conditions boosting electricity consumption across the country.

Exports are therefore halted until the energy system is brought back to a balance, the ministry says.

The restriction cannot yet be confirmed by plans of intersystem energy exchange published on the Electricity System Operator (ESO)'s website. 

Bulgaria reached a 20-year peak in consumption, with neighboring states such as Greece also planning on a halt of exports.

Traders in electricity have lost around BGN 2 M on a daily basis over the ast few days due to shrinking amounts offered on the electricity exchange, at prices of BGN 246 per MHw which are two times the normal ones for the season and four times the average.

The Bulgarian electricity system, however, is "a resilient one" and it can be forecasted exports will not be necessarily stopped, energy expert Prof Atanas Tasev has told Focus Radio.

The Energy Ministry's order is meant to allow a swift reaction if deficiencies are registered within the system.

Greece, for example, has a problem as its "system cannot bear the amount of electricity... Greece receives a substantial amount from us."

Bulgaria "has never registered" such a leap in gas consumption, Tasev has said. Bulgaria has been using nearly 16 million cubic meters daily, twice the usual amount.

"If supplies from Russia are halted, we will plunge into a very tough situation," he has warned, but adding the scenario is for far unlikely.