At the end of 2024, it is expected that the first sod will be laid on the construction of a factory for photovoltaic panels and cells in Bulgaria. If all goes according to plan, solar panel production should start by the end of 2025, followed by solar cell production a year later. This was announced by Todor Georgiev, co-owner and executive director of Smart Energy Group and manager of Smart Solar, in the program "Business Start" with host Hristo Nikolov.
In the first year, between 350 and 500 jobs will be created in the new plant, and when the production of cells starts, the number of employed people will reach 800 people, the guest said.
"The decision has been made, the fields have been chosen. The plant will be in the Stara Zagora area, from the point of view of communication and infrastructure, the place is very good. We shouldn't have a problem with finding labor either, because due to the European Green Deal, some of the facilities in the area for the production of electrical energy from fossil fuels are expected to be closed."
150-200 decares of land will be needed for the construction of the plant, we are working on securing it together with the Stara Zagora municipality. A photovoltaic plant will also be built with the project, which will provide a larger part of the energy needed for the production of solar cells. This is how we will close the cycle, explained Georgiev.
In practice, this will be the first plant for the production of photovoltaic panels and cells in Bulgaria and one of the first in the European Union with such a combined activity. When the plant opens, its production capacity will be between 800 and 1,000 megawatts per year (the total output of the panels), with the idea being to reach 2.4 gigawatts per year when the plant is operating at full speed.
We have been in the photovoltaic business for over 15 years and are one of the first companies in Bulgaria that designed, built and maintained photovoltaic plants. We have completed sites in Bulgaria, Turkey and throughout the EU, Georgiev said. The company has also been producing photovoltaic panels in Turkey for five years, where it has four factories. Cells for photovoltaic modules will also start to be produced in one of the plants from next month.
Todor Georgiev also commented on the official position of the European Photovoltaic Panel Manufacturers Council (ESMC). A few days ago, the organization warned that the sector faces an existential threat due to subsidized Chinese imports flooding the EU.
"We hope that in the future things will develop in a positive direction, because Asian solar panels are subsidized and without a subsidy at this point it cannot work. We have the experience from Turkey - there the state provides a number of preferences (tax and insurance) for the production of photovoltaic panels and cells, since this is technological production. There are also subsidies for the construction of photovoltaic plants. Separately, Turkey has imposed severe anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese panels, and thus 80% of the panels used in Turkey are domestically produced."
In the USA, the situation is similar - there are also subsidies there, and we are exploring two sites in American states for the construction of factories for photovoltaic panels, said Todor Georgiev. Separately, in the States there are tax and insurance benefits, and when installing locally produced panels, the state gives additional preferences (10% of investments in photovoltaic plants are covered if more than 40% locally produced panels are used).
If there is a European regulation, and undoubtedly there will be one, it will affect Bulgaria as well. In Germany, there is now a lot of talk about the granting of state aid for the construction of solar panel factories, as well as the introduction of anti-dumping duties on the import of Asian panels, Georgiev said. According to him, a complete ban on the import of Chinese panels is a radical measure that cannot happen because "the EU will not be able to meet the demand for such panels in the next five years."
There should be an equal start for European and Asian manufacturers, then there will be a chance to develop this business in Europe, the interlocutor said. And he recalled that 10 years ago there were anti-dumping duties in the EU, but after 5 years they were not renewed and this led to difficulties for European solar panel manufacturers.
You can watch a video of Todor Georgiev's interview HERE
