The National Assembly of Bulgaria has adopted changes to the territorial planning law to simplify and speed up the installation of solar panels for the production of energy for self-consumption.
Currently, the procedure to install solar panels and become a prosumer can stretch to one year, but now it is expected to accelerate, local media reported. It is another measure to promote the prosumer concept, as the government has recently announced EUR 30.5 million in grants for rooftop solar.
The initial proposal for simplified procedures was to be valid for the capacity of 10.8 kW
The initial proposal was to simplify the procedure for units with up to 10.8 kW in capacity, but Bulgarian lawmakers voted to increase the threshold to 20 kW. There were also calls to raise it to 29 kW, or even 50 kW.
The amendments canceled the obligation to obtain a building permit and submit a project. Zhecho Stankov, a member of parliament from the GERB party, said the administrative burden would “disappear.”
If the municipality does not object prosumers’ notification within 14 days tacit consent principle will be applied
Instead of a building permit, there will be a notification regime, he said, and added that the owner and contractor would only need to inform the authorities for the technical commissioning of the installations.
The owner will notify the local authority of their intention to install solar panels on their roof and a tacit consent principle will be applied – the project becomes valid if the municipality does not object within 14 days.
Citizens didn’t benefit from the drop in costs for solar equipment
Lawmaker Vladislav Panev from Democratic Bulgaria said solar power costs have fallen to record lows but that due to the complicated procedures, it mainly benefited large investors.
It is why, unlike in other countries, the majority of solar power installations are not on roofs, but on fields, in his view.
Source: Balkangreen Energy News
