The Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum (NGO) has announced that Bulgaria intends to install at least 10,000 electric vehicle charging points over the next five years. Significantly, the charging points (Bulgaria has the fewest in Europe) are to be powered by renewable energy sources. Around 200,000 electric cars are expected to be on Bulgaria’s roads by 2030. For the time being, the country is one of the few on the Old Continent where sales of cars powered by conventional fuel increased last year.

The statement on the charging point installation program stems from an agreement that was signed by the state electricity system operator (ESO), the association of Bulgarian municipalities, the chamber of energy industry, the electric vehicle association BAEPS, the electric vehicle industry cluster EVIC and the electric vehicle owners association. 

Stations for cars, buses and industry

Under the agreement, ESO, which operates 297 substations throughout Bulgaria, will connect electric vehicle charging stations to its network once they are built. Both slow and fast electric vehicle charging stations will be built, which would serve electric cars as well as electric public transportation vehicles and heavy industry vehicles.

According to ESO experts’ forecasts, electric vehicles in Bulgaria will reach 200,000 by 2030, with their total annual energy consumption expected to exceed 600,000 MWh. The number of electric cars could potentially increase to 3.5 million by 2050, at which point total electricity consumption would rise to 10 million MWh per year. Currently, the vast majority of cars in Bulgaria run on conventional fuel equivalent to 45 million MWh consumption. It is estimated that the development of electromobility will result in a threefold decrease in electricity consumption in the transport sector by 2050.

Bulgaria as an exception

It is worth noting that in the European Union, registrations of both gasoline and diesel-powered cars recorded double-digit declines in the last quarter of last year. Sales of gasoline-powered cars fell by as much as 33.5% to 778,450 units, with declines in almost all EU markets. Bulgaria was the exception here, along with Ireland and Slovenia. Bulgaria is now also on the list of EU countries with the lowest number of electric vehicle charging stations per 100 km of roads.