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Smart Energy Group To Build First Combined Solar Panel and Cell Factory ☀ Mr. Todor Georgiev, Executive Director of Smart Energy Group in "Business Start" on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria, 13.02.2024. Great news for Bulgaria's green energy future - by the end of 2024, construction will begin on the country's first factory for producing both photovoltaic panels and cells. This ambitious project, driven by Smart Energy Group, promises to create hundreds of jobs and position Bulgaria as a key player in the European solar market. 🔶Construction starts in 2024: Groundbreaking is expected by year-end, with hopes of starting solar panel production in 2025 and cell production following in 2026. 🔶Location: The factory will be situated in the Stara Zagora area, chosen for its excellent communication and infrastructure. 🔶Job creation: The project is expected to generate 350-500 jobs in the first year, reaching 800 when cell production starts. This opens doors for skilled workers potentially displaced by the European Green Deal's phasing out of fossil fuel plants in the region. 🔶Sustainable approach: The factory will have its own photovoltaic installation, meeting a significant portion of its energy needs and creating a closed-loop system. 🔶Production capacity: Initially, the plant will produce 800-1,000 MW per year, with ambitions to reach 2.4 GW upon full capacity. 🔶Experienced company: Smart Energy Group brings over 15 years of experience in the photovoltaic industry, having designed, built, and maintained installations across Bulgaria, Türkiye, and the EU. Smart Güneş Teknolojileri has 3 production bases in Türkiye - in Gebze, Dilovası and Aliaga, with annual production capacity for solar module 2.9 GW and solar cell capacity 2 GW, respectively, expected by Q1 2024. This project marks a significant step for Bulgaria, boosting its green energy sector, creating jobs, and contributing to the European Union's renewable energy goals.

Check out this article by Raya Lecheva from the EUKI project "SUNRISE - Prosumer Solar Energy" on the challenges Bulgaria faces in adopting balcony solar panels, such as complex procedures, outdated infrastructure, and lack of financial incentives. Raya Lecheva uses Germany as an example to illustrate how streamlined approaches and support systems can help overcome these barriers. Simplifying regulations, upgrading metering systems, and introducing net metering can make balcony PV systems more accessible. Sounds interesting? Read the full article here ⬇️ Disclaimer: the article is written in Bulgarian, many browsers offer a possibility to translate it. 

Renewable energy sources (RES) have surpassed 30% of the global electricity share for the first time, with Bulgaria falling behind the trend. Solar and wind power growth has significantly slowed the rise of fossil fuels over the past decade, with clean energy contributing to 66% of Bulgaria's electricity in 2023. Despite global progress, Bulgaria's targets and progress on renewable energy projects lag behind neighboring countries like Romania, Poland, and Greece. There is the urgent need for Bulgaria to accelerate its adoption of renewable energy to remain competitive in the evolving energy landscape. #Bulgaria #renewables #decarbonization https://buff.ly/4dKtyvJ

“Europe is already aware that the green transition cannot happen without natural gas,” Peter Fildishev, Head of Gas Trading and Operations at MET Group’s Bulgarian subsidiary told business weekly Capital in an interview. In his words, the value of gas will be competitive with alternative fuels, which will make it attractive for the industry.   In the article “What role will natural gas play in Bulgaria's energy sector in the future?”, MET Energy Trading Bulgaria’s expert explains that the natural gas sector is becoming more and more secure. Gas storages in Europe are more than 60% full at the end of the winter season, and with LNG supply the possibilities are substantial – ships can come from anywhere in the world and can be unloaded at many alternative ports. https://lnkd.in/dP7YnAwg

Kola NPP is preparing energy for NOVATEK's LNG project. Kola NPP power engineers are already making calculations on how to increase the facility's capacity to ensure supplies to NOVATEK's planned Murmansk LNG plant. The Kola NPP, located in the Murmansk region, is calculating options for extending the operating period of two of the four power units (1st and 2nd) until 2037-2038 in order to guarantee the necessary energy for NOVATEK's LNG plant. According to Interfax, this was reported by the director of the Kola NPP, Vasily Omelchuk. He noted that the Russian Ministry of Energy assures the Murmansk authorities of guarantees for gasification of the region. Accordingly, an LNG project will appear in the Murmansk region, and it requires energy capacity of up to 900 MW. In the future, according to Omelchuk, the Kola NPP may evaluate extending the operating period of the 3rd and 4th power units - until 2041 and 2044. The Kola NPP provides up to 60% of the energy of the Murmansk region. NOVATEK wants to launch an LNG project in this region. But first, a 1,300-kilometer pipeline needs to be built to Murmansk so that the new project has gas for liquefaction. This new gas pipeline is also expected to gasify a number of areas in the Murmansk region. https://lnkd.in/eK5gmb36

Russian power distribution company #Rosseti has completed the external power supply network for #Gazprom's Chayandinskoye oil and gas condensate field, one of two anchor fields for the #PowerOfSiberia1 gas pipeline system. This was reported by #Rossetti's press service. The capacity of the new 220 kV 'Chayanda' substation is 126 MVA, and the network includes the 220 kV 'Nyuya' switching point and a 66.4 km double-circuit power line. Energy consumption is 50.05 MW. The external source, in combination with #Gazprom's power plant, together provide a reliable power supply for the field. The power supply equipment was produced by domestic / Russian manufacturers. The 'Nyuya' switching point is connected to the power grid through the 220 kV power transmission line "Gorodskaya - Peleduy No. 1 and 2" using "innovative steel lattice supports" designed for operation in the harsh climatic conditions of Sakha-Yakutiya in Russia's Far East. Chayandinskoye is one of the largest gas fields in Eastern Russia and serves as the basis for the development of #Gazprom's Yakut gas production centre. As noted above, it is one of two anchor fields for the #PowerOfSiberia1 gas pipeline system, together with Kovyktinskoye in neighbouring Irkutsk Region. https://lnkd.in/gxuPJBTu

#Gazprom says that it has completed scheduled maintenance on the #PowerOfSiberia1 gas pipeline system. The work was carried out September 19 to 26. Gas transportation, suspended during the maintenance work, has resumed today. Per the Agreement on the Sale and Purchase of Gas via the 'Eastern Route' / #PowerOfSiberia1 pipeline, between #Gazprom and the China's #CNPC, maintenance of the equipment and systems on the #PowerOfSiberia1 gas pipeline is carried out twice per year: in spring and autumn. A full list of previous #PoS1 scheduled maintenance programs is included in the article. https://lnkd.in/gPtKtWRg

Russia's #NOVATEK increased natural gas production by 0.3% and liquid hydrocarbons by 3.6% in 2023, according to preliminary 2023 operating data published on 17th January. Natural gas sales volumes, including #LNG, increased by 2.7% in 2023. In 2023 #NOVATEK’s hydrocarbon production, including shares in joint venture’s production: - Total hydrocarbon production increased by 0.9% to 644.7 million boe; - Daily production total - 1.77 million boe/day; - Natural gas production increased by 0.3% and amounted to 82.39 billion m3; - Liquid hydrocarbon production (gas condensate and oil) increased by 3.6% to 12.37 million tons. https://lnkd.in/gixgQHQ2

International Energy Agency maintains its forecast for oil demand growth in 2024–2025. The agency still expects global oil consumption growth to be no more than 1 million barrels per day this year and in 2025. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has left its estimate for global oil consumption growth in 2024–2025 unchanged. Demand is expected to increase by 970,000 barrels per day this year (previous forecast: 974,000 barrels per day). The 2025 demand estimate has been reduced by only 28,000 barrels per day, to 104.013 million barrels per day. Global oil consumption growth in 2025 is now expected to be 953,000 barrels per day (-26,000 barrels per day versus the July forecast). Meanwhile, the 2023 demand estimate has also been maintained. Such expectations are due, among other things, to the restrained growth in consumption in China compared to 2023. According to the IEA, oil reserves in June fell by 26 million barrels. after four months of growth, largely due to a decline in tanker volumes (by 24 million barrels). https://lnkd.in/etvDYhng

#Gazprom production subsidiary #GazpromDobychaNoyabrsk has commissioned new wells at the Chayandinskoye gas field in Sakha-Yakutiya, Russian Far East. Seven new gas wells have been tied into Preliminary Gas Processing Plant #4 (UPPG-4). Seven new gas wells in the area of UPPG-4 have been tied into the plant and put into operation. Gas produced at Chayandinskoye is delivered to customers, including in China, via the the #PowerOfSiberia1 trunk pipeline system. The phased commissioning of new capacities / wells will allow the Chayandinskoye oil and gas condensate field to reach its full design capacity by the end of 2024. The field is located in Lenskiy District in southwestern Sakha-Yakutiya, one of #Gazprom's key gas fields and projects in eastern Russia. The field provides liquids and gas to strategic trunk gas and oil transportation systems - #PowerOfSiberia1 and #Transneft's East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (#ESPO) pipeline.   Chayandinskoye was put into commercial production in late 2019. At the end of 2022, the field's well inventory numbered more than 180, and 5 more clusters of gas wells were put into operation during the year. In 2024, it is planned to put into operation another 65 gas wells, and the total stock of production wells in the field will be about 300 units. According to the project, the field's production plateau will be ~ 25 billion m3/year of gas. Gas treatment facilities at the Chayandinskoye oil and gas condensate field include Integrated Gas Treatment Plant #3, UPPG-2 and UPPG-4. #GazpromDobychaNoyabrsk completed the construction of UPPG-4 (capacity 6.9 billion m3/year of gas), the final infrastructure facility of the field, at the end of 2023. Natural gas undergoes preliminary treatment at UPPG-4 and is then transported to UPPG-3 via a 32-km in-field gas pipeline. https://lnkd.in/g2JWUvhw