Model for trade in white certificates for Bulgaria

In 2015 the consortium Tractebel Bulgaria Engineering, a joint venture of Bulgaria Engineering EAD and Tractebel Engineering S.p.A. (the engineering part of the GDF Suez Group) executed two projects for the Agency for Sustainable Energy Development, one of which was the project for elaboration of a model for trade in white certificates (TWC) in Bulgaria. For this purpose was elaborated an assessment and forecast of the market potential in energy efficiency in Bulgaria and the possibilities to implement the various schemes for trade in white certificates in the countries, in which good practices for TWC had been implemented.

The analysis indicated that in order to improve the level of performance of the measures for energy savings in Bulgaria it would be suitable to implement a mechanism for encouragement, in which should participate not only the obliged by the law entities, but also all interested parties according to the market principles. A suitable tool for achieving the defined targets in this direction is the introduction of a mechanism for trade in white certificates, while its implementation should lead to a considerable growth in the demand within the country of commercially viable projects for energy efficiency, without relying on budget subsidies. The selected model also foresees maximum utilization of the current legislation, of the existing administrative structures and of the current scheme for liabilities in the country, which would minimize the administrative costs for the implementation of the mechanism for trade in white certificates.

According to their legislative nature, the white certificates comprise dematerialized securities and can be traded only on regulated and non-regulated financial instruments markets. With reference to the above, a suitable market as an organized platform and management of the market for trade in white certificates is the Bulgarian Stock Exchange as a licensed multilateral system for trade in financial instruments.

The system must provide efficiency and transparency and must stimulate various investments in energy efficiency, without creating any additional burdens on the budget, the liable entities, the participants on the market of energy-efficient services and the end users of energy.

In evaluating the importance of this project, our main aim was to aid the local authorities to create a regulatory and institutional system for introducing a market mechanism for the purpose of improving the energy efficiency, which we achieved by executing the project Improving the Institutional Capabilities of the Agency for Sustainable Development for Providing More and Better Services in the Field of Energy Efficiency in accordance with the Operational Program Competitiveness 2007-2013, co-financed by the EU via the European Fund for Regional Development.

MODEL FOR TRADE IN WHITE
CERTIFICATES FOR BULGARIA - SEE MORE