Европейска схема

1.4. Measures to reduce emissions applied to sources not covered by the Scheme, energy policy

1.4 What policies and measures will be applied to the sources not covered by the emissions trading Directive? Will use be made of the flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol? If so, to what extent and what steps have been taken so far (e.g. advancement of relevant legislation, budgetary resources foreseen)?

The MOEW as a national coordinator of the implementation of the Second National Action Plan on Climate Change cooperates with ministries and institutions responsible for the implementation of the national measures. Their projections have been taken into account during the development of the current Plan. The following measures to reduce emissions have been planned for the various sectors:

Energy

Energy Efficiency

Due to the high energy consumption in the economy and the households, the energy efficiency (EE) is a priority at national, sector and regional level. The Energy Efficiency Act and four regulations on EE⁴ form the legal framework for its introduction in sites with considerable energy consumption in industry, transport, services, households and agriculture.

The National long-term programme on energy efficiency contains prognoses for unfavourable trends in the development of the primary and final energy consumption until 2015 as a result of the economic development and the substitution of consumption of energy by solid, liquid and gas fuels, for whose compensation a range of legal, financial and organizational measures have been developed.

Funding projects in the EE field is a task of the Energy Efficiency Fund. Other credit lines and programmes also are used to finance the implementation of EE measures and the combination of EE with renewable energy sources.

Renewable energy sources

The promotion of renewable energy sources (RES) as part of the harmonization of the Bulgarian legislation with the Community legislation is regulated in the Law on the Energy. Mechanisms to promote the use of RES comprise preferential prices for purchase of energy generated from RES and using combined technologies.

An important element of the policy of Bulgaria regarding the promotion of RES is the promotion of increased use of biomass and liquid bio-fuels. Other areas of interest include the construction of hydroelectric power plants and the use of wind and geothermal energy. It is envisaged that the percentage of hydroelectric power stations in the overall energy consumption will reach indicatively 10-11% in 2010. A National Long-term Programme on Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources 2005-2015 is in a process of development whose aspects and forecasts related to climate change have been considered in the development of the NAP.

Industry

In relation to the restructuring of the industry toward higher energy efficiency and application of measures to reduce energy consumption by the new owners after the privatization, a reduction of about 52% in the sum of process and combustion emissions in this sector was registered in 2003, compared to the base year 1988.

Measures applied in this sector include reduction of thermal losses, promotion of the use of natural gas in the industry, monitoring of energy consumption in the industry, modernisation of steam and condensed air installations and introduction of highly efficient construction equipment. In the cement industry a portion of the fuel will be substituted for car tyres and other combustible waste.

Households and services

In this sector the measures include: gasification of households and ensuring finances (through various projects, including “Joint Implementation”) for the introduction of solar collectors, hybrid installations for hot water and other measures to reduce energy consumption.

Transport

Measures to reduce energy consumption in this sector include establishment of dispatcher systems for the control of cargo and railway transport, modernization of the railways and the urban public transport, improvement of the infrastructure and use of bio-fuels.

Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms

Bulgaria assists the implementation of the mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol and will continue to do so. The mechanism “joint implementation” (Art. 6 of KP) is considered an important initiative to attract investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, co-generation and new low carbon and carbon free technologies. Bulgaria has developed and is implementing rules and criteria for assessment of “joint implementation” projects. Twelve projects have been approved and some of them have already started.

Directive 2004/101/ЕС, amending the Emission trading Directive 2003/87/ЕС, also known as “Linking Directive”, establishes a link between the Community Emission trading scheme and the mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol. This is a result of the efforts to investigate economically efficient measures for companies with the purpose to reduce GHG emissions. The emission reduction units from the “joint implementation” projects and the certified emission reductions from “clean development” projects (Art. 12 of Kyoto Protocol) are allowed to contribute up to a certain limit to the fulfilment of the obligations of operators under the European Emission trading scheme, i.e. they are considered as equal units to the allowances.

However, the Linking Directive reduces the scope and opportunities for implementation of such projects, especially for new Member States which also are hosting “joint implementation” projects. This occurs as a result of the requirement of the European Union to avoid the so-called direct and indirect double counting of reduced GHG emissions (i.e. emissions reduced under “Joint Implementation” project can not be allocated to installations within the EU ETS).

In order to avoid double counting of reduced emission as a result of projects with direct effects, the same quantity of allowances is cancelled from the installation where the reduction is achieved as is the quantity of emission reduction units transferred to another country under the “joint implementation” project.

Indirect effect of the double counting occurs in such JI projects which lead to reduction in the energy consumption in the network and to the production of electricity (energy efficiency or renewable energy sources). Such projects are implemented for installations outside the scope of the Scheme but have an effect on the installations participating in the Scheme.

In order to avoid the double counting of JI projects, allowances are set aside. For the direct double counting this quantity is taken from the allowances of the specific installation where the reduction has been achieved. For the indirect double counting allowances are taken from the allowances of the production of electric energy sector.

During the Second period (2008-2012), the maximum share of ERUs and CER for fulfilment of the obligations of operators is limited to 20% of the allowances allocated to them.