Here at SolarPV.TV we are very fortunate to speak with some of the most important and influential people in the Solar PV industry.

On Wednesday we spoke with Mr Nikola Gazdov, chairman of the Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association (BPvA). We are grateful to Mr Gazdov for giving up some of his very valuable time to help us with this presentation, it is much appreciated.

In our inaugural Bulgarian Market Update Mr Gazdov introduces us to his organisation and relays to us his views on the short-term and long-term forecasts for the Bulgarian Solar PV market.

Currently Bulgaria has a total installed capacity of approximately 10 MWp from photovoltaic power systems. At the same time there are applications for more than 4000 MWp.  Still, only up to 5% of those projects are regarded as ?real? in terms of technical and financial ability of implementation.

Here are some of the other highlights from his presentation in relation to the Bulgarian SolarPV market.

• Mandatory interconnection of PV power plants to the grid
  
• Guaranteed purchase of PV generated electricity for a period of 25 years
  
• Feed-in tariff = 80% of the average selling price for the previous  calendar
  
• Barriers to development - Legislative and administrative
  
• BPvA expects to have installed PV projects in the range of 20-80 MWp in 2010 and between 500-1000 MWp until 2015
  
• By 2020 Bulgaria is expected to have an overall installed a capacity of up to 2500-4000 MWp from Solar PV power systems.
  

Who is Nikola Gazdov?

Nikola Gazdov is Managing Partner at Renergy OOD - a Sofia based company, active in the PV and wind energy sector. He has substantial experience in structuring, developing and consulting of international investment projects in the area of renewable energy sources and in South East Europe.

Mr. Gazdov is co-founder and chairman of the Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association ? a rather young organisation (founded in September 2009) that has more than 50 local and international member-companies as of March 2010. He is a member of several formal and informal working groups in the PV sector, both at national and international level.
 
In addition to his activities in the PV and RES sector, Mr. Gazdov is conducing professional intercultural seminars for executives and staff of multinational corporations, working in/with South East Europe.  Since 2002 he has been working as a freelance journalist for the Bulgarian weekly for politics and economy ?Capital?.
 
Nikola Gazdov has studied in Germany and the UK. He has an M.A. in the Honours Master?s Programme ?East European Studies? (Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, Germany) and is a member of the ?Elite Network of Bavaria?.

More about the Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association