Act No.204 creates the legislative basis for economic support for renewables (RES), including solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, fuel wood, and other types of biomass, biogas, and other renewable sources. The law defines rights and responsibilities of RES producers and list of authorities responsible for control over the sector. It also guarantees connection of renewable energy installations to the national grid and provides for RES producers to receive certificates confirming that their energy was generated from renewable sources.
The law provides for the introduction of feed-in tariffs, tax reliefs and other forms of financial support for RES producers and investors. Governmental bodies are mandated to create and maintain a registry of RES producers. Public authorities at national and local levels are obliged to promote renewable energy sources and facilitate their development, as well as promote educational programmes on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Research on renewable technologies is to be supported from governmental sources.
A Resolution on Feed-in Tariffs for electricity generated from renewable energy sources provides details of feed-in tariffs. The feed-in tariff (FIT) rates are guaranteed for renewable electricity generation installations with capacity up to 750 kW for 20 years. All legal persons (national or foreign) can benefit from FIT except installations owned by Belenergo, the state-owned production union. Feed-in tariff rates set for installations commissioned from August 2011 onwards are: a) for wind, hydro, biomass, biogas and geothermal installation - first 10 years: USD 1.3 /kWh, next 10 years: USD 0.85 /kWh; b) for solar installations -first 10 years: USD 3 /kWh, next 10 years: USD 0.85 /kWh.
The National Programme on Local and Renewable Energy Sources Development sets out the policy for increased use of domestic energy sources between 2011 and 2015. By 2015 the share of local energy sources in the energy balance should be no less than 30%. The target is to be reached by increased use of wood, straw, and municipal waste fuels, deployment of biogas, wind, solar, and heat pumps installations, and construction and rehabilitation of hydropower plants. The aim is to increase the use of local and renewable energy sources 1.9 times to 5.7 million toe and substitute up to 2.4 billion cubic meters of the imported natural gas compared to 2010. The Programme mandates the commissioning of:
The law provides for the introduction of feed-in tariffs, tax reliefs and other forms of financial support for RES producers and investors. Governmental bodies are mandated to create and maintain a registry of RES producers. Public authorities at national and local levels are obliged to promote renewable energy sources and facilitate their development, as well as promote educational programmes on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Research on renewable technologies is to be supported from governmental sources.
A Resolution on Feed-in Tariffs for electricity generated from renewable energy sources provides details of feed-in tariffs. The feed-in tariff (FIT) rates are guaranteed for renewable electricity generation installations with capacity up to 750 kW for 20 years. All legal persons (national or foreign) can benefit from FIT except installations owned by Belenergo, the state-owned production union. Feed-in tariff rates set for installations commissioned from August 2011 onwards are: a) for wind, hydro, biomass, biogas and geothermal installation - first 10 years: USD 1.3 /kWh, next 10 years: USD 0.85 /kWh; b) for solar installations -first 10 years: USD 3 /kWh, next 10 years: USD 0.85 /kWh.
The National Programme on Local and Renewable Energy Sources Development sets out the policy for increased use of domestic energy sources between 2011 and 2015. By 2015 the share of local energy sources in the energy balance should be no less than 30%. The target is to be reached by increased use of wood, straw, and municipal waste fuels, deployment of biogas, wind, solar, and heat pumps installations, and construction and rehabilitation of hydropower plants. The aim is to increase the use of local and renewable energy sources 1.9 times to 5.7 million toe and substitute up to 2.4 billion cubic meters of the imported natural gas compared to 2010. The Programme mandates the commissioning of:
- Energy generation facilities using wood and peat fuels with total capacity of 49 MW (electrical) and 1063 MW (thermal)
- Biogas power plants with total capacity of 90 MW (electrical)
- New hydropower plants and renovation of existing hydropower plants with total capacity of 102 MW
- Wind parks with total capacity of up to 460 MW
- Heat pumps to use low potential secondary energy resources and geothermal energy with total capacity of 8,9 MW
- 172 solar water heater and solar power plants
