Renewables too expensive, Sofia claims

SOFIA, Bulgaria, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Bulgaria remains committed to 2020 goals regarding renewable energy but at this time finds clean energy technology too costly, the prime minister said.

In December, leaders from the European Union backed a measure sponsored by Poland that calls for a single market for electricity and natural gas by 2014. The measure also calls on energy companies to help consumers reduce demand by 1.5 percent per year through 2020. The measures are part of EU efforts to decarbonize the European economy.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said during meetings in Sofia with members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that renewable energy was too expensive at the moment.

"I do not want Bulgarians paying for expensive renewable energy," he was quoted by the Sofia News Agency as saying. "At this stage, nothing obliges us to integrate wind farms and solar parks into the existing power grid because they are now quite costly."

He said this didn't mean his government was walking away from broader European initiatives to advance clean energy alternatives, however.

"The fact that we have a deadline by 2020 to comply with the target [of reducing the use of fossil fuels], by when the technologies will most probably be cheaper, defends the interests of Bulgarian citizens," he said.