Course: DISCOVER the PROJECT - the SPECIFIC GUIDEBOOK in Bulgaria with IESDI

IESDI's Specific Guidebook

Hello IESDI. You are the Bulgarian partner of DISCOVER. Now the project is about to release the Specific Guidebook, the localized version of the General Guidebook. Did you meet any hurdles when going from the General to the Specific Guidebook? In general, what kind of difficulties did you encounter preparing this tool? And why?
Hello AISFOR! With recent amendments to the Energy Act (EA) and the Renewable Energy Act (REA), Bulgaria has tried to align its national laws with the EU Directive 2018/2001 on promoting renewable electricity. However, Bulgarian citizens still face major obstacles when trying to develop renewable energy projects. These include grid connection delays, complicated and bureaucratic procedures, and unclear rules for allocating grid capacity. Further challenges include delays in obtaining environmental and construction permits due to lengthy procedures and frequent violations of legal deadlines. DISCOVER project, and the General Guidebook are meant to address these gaps and hurdles with a thorough innovative approach.
IESDI used the General Guidebook to outline the required steps for each phase of a community energy project in Bulgaria: development, execution, and operation. However, reflecting the local context some differences emerged—particularly in preparing the four parts of the investment project and in the procedure for obtaining the Distribution System Operator’s (DSO) approval to sell the excess energy to the grid. These differences will be accounted while harmonising the Specific Guidebook with the national procedures for CEPs.

Can you tell the main elements of innovation of the Specific Guidebook, according to IESDI?
The DISCOVER project is developing support services for CEP initiators, whether they are working on ongoing projects, newly started initiatives, or future endeavours. These support services are compiled into the Specific Guidebook, considered as a live organism, comprehensive and easily adaptable, reflecting the changing national legislation towards improvement and simplification of procedures. The ability for integrating cutting edge European digital tools and AI for simulation of various techno-economic models of CEP is definitely one of its innovative characteristics.

Why such tool is needed in Bulgaria/Sofia? How would IESDI use it?

Several services already exist in Bulgaria, providing data and statics, supporting mainly the energy efficiency assessment of buildings, business facilities and households. These services cover different aspects for the creation of community energy projects (CEP), but they are not specifically aimed at building of renewable energy communities (RECs) or of citizens’ energy communities (CECs) due to gaps in the legal framework.

The Specific Guidebook, Bulgarian chapter outlined the key steps of the CEP lifecycle in our country, offering a clear, structured approach for project initiators. It combined all support services from the DISCOVER project with those already offered by the Sustainable Energy Development Agency, ESO, and other key stakeholders. Focusing on practical use, the Guidebook is expected to reduce barriers, simplify decisions, and encourage the growth of energy communities across the country.

What are the future steps now?
The Specific Guidebook will be used in the local One-Stop-Shop to connect technology providers, improve collaboration, and streamline project execution. An Interactive version of the guidebook will be integrated into the GRID-ONE platform to automate the management of CECs and RECs. It will cover everything from organizing energy communities and building automated energy clusters to providing reporting tools and contract templates. The platform will also offer tools for managing and monitoring energy devices, smart grids, EV charging stations, PV and battery systems, and for automatically generating reports required by law.

Thanks IESDI, and good luck with your work!