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Power slalom at Bulgaria's Black Sea coast

Low electricity voltage of about 150V instead of 220V is a problem for the region in the summer. The main reasons are the high level of consumption along the coast caused by the active tourist season and the lack of sources to supply electricity to the new buildings.

NEC had adopted a programme for accelerated construction of substations for about 30 million euro in 2006 and 2007, Papazyan said. The programme provides for reconstruction of the existing substation at Zlatni Pyasutsi (Golden Sands) resort, construction of new substations at Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach), Obzor and Sozopol, as well as at the mountain resort of Pamporovo (in the Rhodopes).

Papazyan said that, according to the Energy and Energy Efficiency Act, NEC was obligated to construct substations, while the electricity distribution companies were responsible for the development and expansion of the electricity distribution network and have to declare the power of the substations.

Bulgaria has seven electricity distribution companies, which have been private since 2004.

The substations will be constructed within two years, with reconstruction at Zlatni Pyasutsi expected to end by the spring of 2007. The price of a good substation is about four to five million euro, Papazyan said.

State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) chair Konstantin Shoushoulov said the commission would require from NEC and the electricity distribution companies a programme for accelerated construction of substations and resolution of the problem of bad quality electricity.

The situation was worst along the southern Black Sea coast, as well as in some other regions inside the country, like the areas of Plovdiv and Assenovgrad (southern Bulgaria), Shoushoulov said.

SEWRC will not sanction the companies for low voltage electricity until 2007 in order to give them the opportunity to undertake measures for the solution of the problem. The fine for bad quality electricity is between 15 000 and 500 000 leva.

In Shoushoulov’s words, domestic consumers who have sustained property damages from bad quality electricity have been indemnified almost everywhere. In case of drastic reduction of voltage to about 160V, the respective electricity supply companies will be sanctioned by the court, he said.