Bulagria will need to invest between EUR 3 billion and EUR 4 billion in renewable energy capacity to achieve its target of 16% clean power in the country's energy mix by 2020, said Kenneth Lefkowitz, chairman of the Bulgarian Wind Energy Association at a green conference on Monday.

If the country fails to build the required capacity it will need to buy expensive energy from those which produce more than the mandatory targets, Lefkowitz added. Currently, the premium Bulgarian households pay for clean energy adds to their electricity bills BGN 4 per year. A failure to meet an interim target by 1% will burden households with BGN 160 a year, while by 2020 the amount could swell to BGN 500 – 600, according to the calculations of the association.

The green target of 10% for 2010 will be achieved mainly thanks to the large hydropower plants in the country, according to government estimates.

Proposals for green energy projects abound, but the state could screen the real undertakings from the speculative ones by requiring companies to cover 50% of the cost for extending the electric grid, said energy expert Ivanka Dilovska, a former deputy minister of economy. This will test investors' ability to finance their projects and will facilitate hooking new capacity to the grid, Dilovska added. Another condition for achieving the target according to the expert is adequate pricing. The energy regulator must guarantee power producers stable and predictable earnings, while adjusting prices to new technologies to encourage the introduction of efficient and cheap know-how in Bulgaria.