The Bulgarian Industrial Association - Union of Bulgarian Business, the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect and the Municipal Network  for Energy Efficiency EcoEnergy are organizing the next edition of the Sustainable Energy Investment Forum, which will take place on 5 October 2023 in Sofia, BIA SKY Office Building (BIA building, address: 76, Chattalja St.) and online in the Zoom platform.

For the first time in several years, the new political season in Bulgaria begins with a regular government and a functioning parliament, yet the election issue is again on the agenda. This time the focus is on local elections, and it is the municipalities that are leading the implementation of climate and energy policies. They are expected to be active in the public sphere and to take concrete project initiatives related to the implementation of investments under the National Recovery Resilience an (NRRP) and EU structural and cohesion policy programmes. Alongside this, local authorities have also played a leading role in the implementation of the financial mechanisms and instruments discussed in the series of roundtables on energy efficiency financing held in Bulgaria over the last two years. 

At national level, there is unfortunately still a lack of consensus and strategic vision regarding these policies. Progress on the implementation of the planned reforms is seriously lagging behind, and the submission of the territorial plans for a fair transition is also delayed, while the lack of initiatives to harness available resources under instruments such as the Modernisation Fund and the delayed update of the RePowerEU’s NRRP put a huge financial resource at serious risk. 

At the same time, the strategic and regulatory framework at European level continues to evolve towards increased ambition within the overall climate and energy policies. The recently adopted Energy Efficiency Directive sets new, higher and binding targets at national level.  Work is also in its final stages on a new version of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which it is now clear will set extremely ambitious minimum energy performance targets for both new buildings and building renovation projects in Bulgaria.

In this context, this roundtable on financing energy efficiency projects will discuss the possibilities for adopting a shared vision on national priorities for sustainable energy use. Discussions regarding the national strategic framework will be linked to specific sectoral policies that would make it possible to implement energy efficiency projects on a market basis, given the expected exhaustion of funds under available investment programmes and the reduction in the intensity of public support.  The event will also focus on building local capacity and introducing solutions for integrated management of energy policies at the local level, which will enable effective collaboration with different stakeholders and facilitate access to alternative resources to replace the typical financing modalities used so far by Bulgarian local authorities and businesses.

You can register here: https://forms.gle/HTJwXyBwLfVVeMUE8