Investment financing

The construction of photovoltaic parks for personal consumption or sale to the energy transmission network could be financed by own or attracted funds, in which case the options are by bank loan or by applying with a project under a European grant program under increasing energy efficiency for small, medium and large companies in the country.

The Bulgarian Development Bank finances the construction of photovoltaic parks with power up to 1MW/p for the needs of the business. The credit product is in response to the growing concern of companies about electricity values in Bulgaria and Europe and rising demand. Switching business to solar is a workable solution in the context of depleted non-renewable sources and the EU’s carbon neutrality targets.

The requirements are:

  1. Own land the categorisation of which may be used for the construction of a photovoltaic park (and to have a positive opinion on the construction of such a facility).
  2. Preliminary contract for the accession of the photovoltaic park to the relevant EDC or a contract for the purchase of electricity by a private company.
  3. Offer from a component supplier with a 10-year warranty.
  4. Ready project for the construction of the photovoltaic park.
  5. Offer from a contractor for the construction of the photovoltaic park / preliminary contract for maintenance of the built facility.
  6. Estimated cashflow for the duration of the requested finances

 

Before deciding whether to invest in the construction of a photovoltaic park, here are some basic data on the amount of investment costs, electricity produced and expected revenues.

The size of a PV system is measured in kWp (kilowatt peak). The average energy produced per 1 kWp is 1100 kWh/Year. 1 kWp is built on an area of about 10 m2.

What revenue can be expected?

According to the current legislation, the prices for buying up the electricity produced are:

– for photovoltaic systems with power up to 5 kWp: BGN 0.782 excl. VAT per kWh (kilowatt hour)

– for systems greater than 5 kWp: 0.718 vat excl. vat per kWh

The statutory time limit for the purchase of all electricity produced is 12 years. This is approximately the period for which an installation is paid. In case the project is funded at 70%, the installation is paid for 3-4 years.