12,000 electric cars have been registered in Bulgaria to date, which represents over 50% growth compared to 7,800 registered in 2022, announced Boryana Koleva, chief expert in the “National Transport Policy” Directorate of the Ministry of Transport and Communications. During the international forum “Be Renewable: Energy Evolution 2023”, she also shared that the decarbonization of transport is one of the key highlights of the EU Green Deal and a top priority in the Union’s policies to achieve an ecological transport system.
The two-day conference was a great success, welcoming energy experts from Bulgaria and other countries in Europe and thus creating an important dialogue between the government and the industry for the development of renewable energy sources (RES) in Bulgaria. The event attracted hundreds of guests who had the opportunity to learn about the latest innovations, best practices and financial and technological solutions in the field of renewable energy.
The program of “Be Renewable: Energy Evolution 2023” touched on important topics for the development of the sector related to European green energy policies and business models, human capital, investment and financing opportunities, energy trade and the role of green hydrogen in the energy transition.
Mrs. Koleva also shared an opinion on the subject of electromobility and sustainable transport: “Our main goal is to build 10,000 charging stations for electric cars in the country by 2026 and to register 30,000 hybrid cars. We are developing electric mobility in urban settings by purchasing electric buses and expanding the charging infrastructure. Also, micromobility is developing with the introduction of electric scooters, as well as the introduction of the Spark electric car sharing system, which is already available in Sofia and Plovdiv and has plans to expand to Varna in 2024.”
Alexander Milanov, general manager of the BMW Group in Bulgaria, joined the discussion. “Our country leads the list for the purchase of electric cars ahead of countries that have a giant subsidy for electric cars,” he commented, predicting that by 2035 Bulgarians will only drive electric cars or those with synthetic fuels.
Be Renewable 2023 is the first event in Bulgaria that brought together the institutional and technological achievements of the sector in Europe. The two-day conference was held on October 2-3 at the Inter Expo Center. The event is organized by “Solar Academy Bulgaria” association and M3 Communications Group, Inc.
Among the speakers on the second day of the two-day conference were Martin Zaimov, chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Electric Vehicles, Prof. Dr. Simeon Ananiev, chairman of the Board, Cluster Green Transport, Iliya Levkov, chairman of Board of Directors of the Industrial Cluster Electric Cars, Tanya Mihailova, Director of the Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Petar Popchev, diplomat and founder of the NET ZERO Foundation, etc. The event was also attended by leading companies from the energy sector in Europe, who shared their knowledge and experience in the field of sustainable energy solutions and how they can be successfully integrated into the business models of the future.
The main partners of the event are BAUER SOLAR – one of the leading solar panel manufacturers based in Germany with over 20 years of experience in the photovoltaic market, the Italian company AZZURRO, which is an international leader in the field of software development, automation, robotics and renewable energy, as well as POLYCOMP, which are the market leader of information and communication technologies in Bulgaria, with the support of Huawei.
Among the partners of the forum are also the Spanish company EURENER – a manufacturer of photovoltaic modules with over 25 years of history in caring for the planet and producing clean energy for future generations, as well as the Bulgarian platform for green parks BROWN TO GREEN, which aims at the complete transformation and development of the Southwest coal region in Bulgaria.