Thermal Power Share Declining in Emerging Eastern Europe Countries

Monday 3 September 2012, Amsterdam

Emerging Eastern European nations are decreasing reliance on thermal power as they diversify their energy mix and implement a greater share of renewables.

It states that Eastern Europe’s emerging power countries (defined as Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania) are aiming to decrease reliance on power generated from fossil fuels, which are becoming less available and correspondingly more expensive.

Cumulatively, the total installed capacity of these countries will climb from a 2011 figure of 49,906 megawatts (MW), to 65,989 MW by 2020, but a more substantial portion of this latter amount will be taken by renewable and nuclear energy.

Last year, thermal energy accounted for 53.5% of the total installed capacity of these emerging Eastern European power markets – a stake set to drop to 44.5% by 2020. In 2011, renewable and nuclear power represented respective shares of 5.3% and 13.8%, but these contributions are expected to rise to 12.8% and 17.2% by the end of the decade.

In terms of growth, Bulgaria is expected to dominate renewables in the region. From a 2012 installed capacity of 435 MW, Bulgaria will expand its renewable capacity to 2,672 MW by 2020, shooting up at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26.7%.

Bulgaria’s renewables industry is predicted to display impressive growth thanks to directives
such as the Renewable Energy Act and the Bulgarian Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Credit Line (BEERECL), and hopes to produce 18% of its energy through renewable energy sources by 2020.

Lithuania is second in terms of predicted growth in the renewables sector, with a 2012-2020 CAGR of 12.6%, followed closely by Romania which is forecast to climb at a CAGR of 10.1%.