On 11th of May 2011, the Bulgarian office of Wolf Theiss hosted a breakfast seminar to discuss the recent amendments to the Bulgarian Renewable Energy Law and their impact on the development and financing of RES projects in the country. The seminar gathered 40 representatives of leading RES developers, energy suppliers, banks and international commercial associations.
 
The amended Bulgarian RES Act goes some way to provide legal and regulatory certainty for developers, investors and banks. The seminar provided an overview of the changes to the RES Act, their impact and how to best take advantage of the revised framework.
 
Anna Rizova, Partner at Wolf Theiss Sofia, presented the general implications of the new RES Act, an act that transposes the provisions of Directive 2009/28/EC and provides a more transparent and predictable framework for the implementation of renewable sources. Anna touched upon the relevance of the new Act to the Third Energy Package and the European plan for "supergrid" development. Senior Associate Radoslav Mikov focused on the connection to the grid process in the light of the new Act and the expected practical benefits investors can expect from the development of a 10-year grid development plan. Partner Richard Clegg provided an overview of the requirements for bankability of RES projects in Bulgaria.
 
The presentations were followed by a Q&A session on the practical impact of the new RES Act on existing projects.
 
Please find attached the presentation from the seminar.