Following the closure of two reactors at Kozloduy nuclear power plant (NPP), donors will pay 1.2 million euro for energy efficiency projects in Bulgaria, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on August 2 2007.

“Donors supporting a fund for the decommissioning of Bulgaria’s Kozloduy nuclear power station have increased their financing by 1.2 million euro to 25.2 million euro,” the EBRD, which administers the Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund (KIDSF), said in a statement.

The programme comes after the closure of two 440 MW reactors at Kozloduy at the end of 2006. The closure was the result of an agreement between the European Union and Bulgaria.

Donor financing complements a 105 million euro EBRD facility, Bulgarian Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Credit Line (BEERECL), which was launched in 2004.

The BEERECL provides technical assistance and incentives to companies that implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects financed under the BEERECL, according to wire agency SeeNews.

“The funds are used partly to provide financial incentives to companies investing in EBRD-sponsored energy efficiency projects in Bulgaria. These incentives, which help remove barriers to sustainable energy efficiency projects, have now been doubled,” the bank said.

The BEERECL is provided by the EBRD to six Bulgarian banks that lend to private sector companies for small renewable energy projects and industrial energy efficiency. These projects aim to reduce CO2 emissions and achieve energy savings of up to 96 per cent, the EBRD said.

Bulgaria consumes 2.5 times the EU average for energy per person, the bank said.