Bulgarian coal-fired power station breaks ground on 100-MW solar park

Bulgaria’s Bobov Dol Thermal Power Plant, or TPP Bobov dol, on Monday broke ground on a 100-MW photovoltaic (PV) park which will be built in an area that previously served for ash disposal from the coal-fired power station.

Worth BGN 100 million (USD 54.6m/EUR 51.1m), the solar park is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

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The solar project is part of a broader transformation at the power station, TPP Bobov dol’s board chair Kristina Lazarova tells Renewables Now, which includes the addition of a biogas installation this year with a capacity of about 7 MW, under a contract with Zorg Biogas.

In 2023, the Bobov Dol plant is due to connect to the country’s gas network, which will allow it to replace fuel oil with gas as the fuel for switching on the blocks that are currently powered by local coal. The power station has three blocks with an overall capacity of 630 MW, with two of them working at a time. The transformation plans further include five gas co-generators with a total capacity of 42 MW, expected to be online by 2024.

Lazarova says there is also a concept project for hybrid turbines capable of running on gas and hydrogen.

The transformation plans were discussed on Friday during a visit by representatives of the European Commission, who, according to the company, were surprised by the shift underway. The power plant is looking to access the EU Modernisation Fund to support its plans.

(BGN 1.0 = USD 0.546/EUR 0.511)