Energy community corner
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2023 Solar Cities Project
Solar Cities Project, funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI). Project partners are Sofia Municipality, Burgas Municipality and the Bulgarian Solar Association.
The project aims to support the process of utilizing the potential of roof spaces in cities for the purpose of producing electricity from photovoltaic installations, as well as to encourage and facilitate investments in photovoltaic installations by the local population, businesses and public institutions.
All captured roof spaces of buildings are visualized on a specially developed platform, accessible to citizens. On the platform, by entering the exact address of the property and marking the building, information can be obtained about the estimated annual amount of energy that can be generated by solar panels installed on the roof structure of the selected building. The information can be used for the construction of household photovoltaic systems.
2024 AUER assessments of the unjustified obstacles to the development of renewable energy communities and consumers of their own electricity from renewable sources.
The assessments were prepared by the Executive Director of the Agency for Sustainable Energy Development in accordance with his powers under Article 7, paragraph 2, item 17 of the Renewable Energy Act.
Guidelines for assessing self-consumption when installing photovoltaic plants in buildings without energy storage systems
Calculator for calculating self-consumption
2025 Partnership between the Ministry of Energy and Innovation Norway
July 2025 - implemented project on energy communities in Bulgaria, financed under the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021, the Bilateral Fund, with a focus on promoting a sustainable energy future. The report identifies existing barriers and recommends initiatives for the creation of both civic energy communities in Bulgaria and renewable energy communities. The report also outlines strategies, benefits and frameworks to support the creation and development of energy communities in Bulgaria. It is aimed at regulators, energy sector stakeholders, local communities, investors and environmental organizations.
The report is in the original English language. The Bulgarian version of the report is a machine translation and may contain inaccuracies or discrepancies with the original text. In case of any doubt or need for full clarity, please use the official English version as the leading and definitive one.
2025 Partnership between the Ministry of Energy and JASPERS / EIB
Project "Support for the Development of Energy Communities in Bulgaria with the Participation of Municipalities" - report and working tool .xls format.
Brief conclusion: Energy communities with the leading participation of municipalities can be a practical and low-risk way for Bulgarian cities to reduce bills, decarbonize public assets and mobilize local capital - even while part of the support framework is still being developed. Since October/November 2023, Bulgaria officially recognizes renewable energy communities and citizen energy communities in its primary legislation. Secondary legislation in this direction was last amended and supplemented in February 2026. The sustainable model for energy communities with the leading participation of municipalities can be summarized as:
- "no regrets" model (ready now): The municipality creates an energy community around a place of its own consumption - e.g. PV on public buildings (schools, sports halls, etc.), with power optimized for maximum self-consumption, with the surplus sold on the free market through licensed traders. Citizens/SMEs co-finance the community through a transparent instrument with limited returns. Revenues come from (i) reduced costs of purchasing electricity on the free market for municipalities and (ii) selling produced electricity on the free market (after covering self-consumption). This model complies with current legislation and public procurement practice.
- Development towards “Energy Sharing”: the energy community adds intra-community energy sharing/virtual metering and distribution and billing of members, expands to multi-site portfolios and integrates storage/demand response. This opens up access to more members (e.g. vulnerable households) and additional value streams (flexibility, peak load reduction, etc.). This design is in line with the EC definitions (RED II, IEMD) and recommendations of the INPEC Commission (2024).
The report and the model are in the original English language.
Municipal energy communities in Bulgaria - preliminary study for implementation
Financial calculation tool for Municipal Energy Communities in Bulgaria
2022 – 2025 Habitat Bulgaria SUNRISE Project
The aim of the project is to increase the use of renewable energy sources in the residential sector by individual homeowners or tenants – a “PROSUMER” approach – a producing energy consumer. Among the main activities carried out under the project is the identification and dissemination of solutions for financing RES and a “PROSUMER” approach in the residential sector and raising awareness and installing demonstration Plug-in photovoltaic systems.
Information about the project is available on the following website:
Pilot projects for energy communities
Some municipalities (such as Burgas, Gabrovo and Sofia) are already participating in pilot capacity-building schemes, providing free technical and financial advice to multi-family residential buildings in condominiums wishing to become “active consumers”. These municipalities are implementing projects for energy communities.
Gabrovo Municipality, civil energy community
Gabrovo Municipality, civil energy community
The Gabrovo Citizen Energy Community was established by the Municipality of Gabrovo and is managed by representatives appointed by the Municipality of Gabrovo. The photovoltaic power plant is built on the roof of the municipal non-hazardous waste disposal facility and has an installed capacity of 100 kWp. Citizens and small and medium-sized enterprises participate in the energy community. The photovoltaic installation is owned by the energy community throughout the 10-year operating period, after which ownership is permanently transferred to the municipality. The electricity produced is sold to the municipal utilities at a fixed price through power purchase agreements and on the electricity market.
Burgas Municipality, civil energy community
The Burgas Citizen Energy Community was established by the Municipality of Burgas and is managed by the municipality. The photovoltaic power plant is built on the roof of the municipal swimming hall "Slaveykov" and has an installed capacity of 420 kWp. Individuals and legal entities, including municipal enterprises, can participate in it.
Sofia Municipality, Energy Community
Sofia Municipality, Energy Community
A pilot model of partnership between a municipal structure, citizens and business for the production and shared use of renewable energy in Sofia. The project tests an innovative model for crowdfunding of green installations, which, if successfully implemented, can be applied to other municipal sites. This will enable Sofia to fulfill its commitments under the European directive on the energy performance of buildings - by 2030, all public buildings should have renewable energy installations.
"Energy Community Sofia - 2. Sofia University "Acad. Emilian Stanev" is being established at the proposal of the Vitosha District in the form of a civil society, with the aim of building a photovoltaic power plant on the roof space of the school, with part of the energy produced being used for the needs of the educational institution
Municipality of Slivo Pole
In the municipality of Slivo Pole, Ruse district, an energy community has been established, the program of which envisages the use of waste heat for heating public buildings. For this purpose, an agreement has been signed with a local industrial enterprise for the supply of heat energy for a period of 10 years.
A project of the Sofia Municipality for the creation of the first energy community on the territory of the capital is in the process of implementation – “Energy Community Sofia – 2. Sofia University “Acad. Emilian Stanev”. The initiative is the first pilot model of partnership between the municipality, citizens and business for the production and shared use of renewable energy in Sofia.
The photovoltaic installation with a capacity of 70 kWp will be built on the roof of a school and will be financed with funds provided by individuals and legal entities – small and medium-sized enterprises, non-governmental organizations and citizens. It is planned that nearly 40% of the solar energy produced will be used directly in the school.
Energy Agency – Plovdiv, National Contact Point to the European Energy Communities Fund
As the National Contact Point for the European Energy Communities Fund, Energy Agency - Plovdiv, together with 28 other points across Europe, promotes the concept of energy communities, supports the establishment of new energy communities, ensures the transfer of knowledge and skills between existing and new energy communities, supports the development of investment/business plans for their development, as well as defining the model of energy communities and the technical parameters of energy production systems. - https://www.eap-save.eu/
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