Bulgarian Parliament has adopted a highly controversial amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act, proposed by a far-right party, that introduces a new 20% tax on revenues of solar PV plants and wind parks.

Members of Parliament expect the new tax to have a balancing effect on the electricity system, enabling to overcome the discrepancies between prices of different producers operating on the regulated market. Under an EU Directive, Bulgaria is required to reach a 16% share of renewable electricity generation by 2020; this share would already be 15%. Between 2005 and 2010, wind capacity increased almost tenfold to 500 MW and reached 657 MW in 2012. Solar capacity has also be booming since 2010 (32 MW), reaching 212 MW in 2011 and 933 MW in 2012.