Terms and procedure for financing projects for production and sale of power from renewable energy sources

In the Program for Development of Rural Areas (2007-2013) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods there is a special measure for providing support for investment projects related to the production and sale of power from renewable energy sources (RES), namely: Measure 312 – Support for the creation and development of micro-enterprises. The financial support under this measure will be also provided for investments in the production and sale of power through the construction and operation of photovoltaic power stations. The prerequisites for this are laid out in Regulation No 29 of 11.08.2008 on the terms and procedure for providing non-repayable financial grants under the measure “Support for the creation and development of micro-enterprises” from the Program for Development of Rural Areas over the period 2007-2013, hereinafter referred to as the Regulation. rnThe prerequisites for provision of financial grants can be divided generally into two groups: requirements towards the candidates and requirements towards the projects submitted for approval.rnRequirements towards the candidates: • The candidates must be sole proprietor or legal persons – traders; they must not be registered as agricultural producers; • The candidates must have a registered office or a branch seated on the territory of a municipality located in the rural areas of the Republic of Bulgaria, pursuant to Application No2 of the Regulation; • The candidates must be micro-enterprises within the meaning of art.3, par.3 of the Law on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, i.e. their payroll employees must not exceed 10 people, on average, and the annual turnover of the enterprise must not be over BGN 3,900,000, and/or the value of the assets must not exceed BGN 3,900,000; • The scope of their activity must expressly provide for the production and sale of electric power from renewable sources of energy. rnRequirements towards the projects submitted for approval: • The project must provide for the construction of an installation for the production of electric power from renewable sources of energy – up to 1 MW /one megawatt/; • The maximum admissible amount for general expenses for a project can reach EUR 1,000,000 /one million euros/, the financial grant for such projects being 80% of the approved costs but not more than the BGN (leva) equivalent of EUR 200,000; • The project must be executed on a property owned by the candidate, or if it is the case that the candidate does not own the property he must submit a document which entitles him to build on that property for a period of at least 6 years from the date of application. According to the new Law for Energy from Renewable Sources, the preferential prices for the purchase of renewable energy do not apply when investments have been made for the construction of the project by National and European Schemes for Social Assistance. For renewable energy produced by such projects the terms given for its purchase also do no apply.