Bulgaria approved a new law on renewable energy that aims to cool a surge in solar and wind power projects that threatens to overwhelm its ageing power grid and boost electricity prices.

The law changes the government's obligatory purchase of electricity produced from renewable energy generators at high, fixed prices, which has led to a jump in projects totalling over 6,000 MW - well above the country's grid capacity.

The centre-right government says that Bulgaria needs only 2,000 MW of new green energy generation to meet the EU target of supplying 16 percent of its energy consumption from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Under the new law, the energy regulator will set annual preferential feed-in tariffs, which pay per unit of electricity produced from low-carbon energy by the end of June each year.

Source: http://www.balkans.com/