Bulgaria plans to set up a green hydrogen production centre of excellence as the Balkan nation looks to tee itself up as a clean energy exporter.
The country’s Ministry of Energy launched the plans under the H2Start Hydrogen Valley project last Friday (March 14), which aims to establish a centre of excellence for green hydrogen production in Stara Zagora.
Backed by Horizon Europe funding, the Thracian University of Stara Zagora and the Bulgarian Association for Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Energy Storage will work with the Italian organisations the Polytechnic University of Turin and the Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies.
The centre will focus on developing hydrogen production and usage technologies as Bulgaria looks to move away from its heavy fossil fuel consumption.
It remains one of the most carbon-intensive economies in the EU. In 2022, over 30% of the country’s energy supply was met through coal, with 22.8% deriving from oil.
However, Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov, claimed Bulgaria has “excellent conditions” for green hydrogen production as well as existing infrastructure to support its transportation.
“Our country also has excellent conditions for transporting green hydrogen,” Stankov said – stressing that it could become “one of the main exporters” of green hydrogen in Europe.
Historically, Bulgaria transported Russian gas to Serbia and Hungary through an extension of the TurkStream pipeline and transmitted over 20 billion cubic metres of gas per year to the rest of Europe.
The country has begun exploring the potential of repurposing its gas infrastructure to handle hydrogen. National gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz said it would explore retrofitting its network to handle up to 10% hydrogen blending.
Bulgaria is also working with Greece to set up a 250km hydrogen pipeline from its capital Sofia to the Greek border. A second phase could extend the pipeline by 330km to the Romanian border.
Despite launching its hydrogen strategy in 2023 – which set the goal of setting up 1.1GW of green hydrogen production capacity by 2030 – Bulgaria’s hydrogen market remains underdeveloped, with limited projects currently underway.
It had planned to set up 55MW of electrolyser capacity in pilot projects by 2025.
H2 View subscription
If you’re looking to upgrade your H2 View experience, check out our subscription packages and unlock over FIVE YEARS of content.
Even with an essential H2 View subscription, you will gain unlimited access to h2-view.com’s archive of content containing over 13,000 stories, features and interviews – as well as a monthly digital and/or print magazine!
Still need more? Our premium package provides access to all of H2 View’s exclusive webinars on demand!
