Italy’s Enel Gets Regulatory Approval To Buy 13 Wind Farm Companies in Bulgaria

The Bulgarian competition regulator said on Thursday it allowed Italian power company Enel to acquire 13 subsidiaries of Danish-owned Global Wind Power Bulgaria for an undisclosed sum.

Earlier this year, Enel agreed to buy 100% of each of the companies, which were set up to build and operate wind farms, through its subsidiary, Enel Green Power Bulgaria, the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said.

The companies will have a small market share due to the low stake of alternative energy in total energy production in Bulgaria, CPC said in a statement.

The concentration will have an insignificant impact on the market, CPC said.

Enel has two wind power projects in Bulgaria. The group, which owns coal-fired power plant Enel Maritsa East 3, has also expressed its interest in building solar parks in the country.

Bulgaria, which joined the European Union in 2007, should generate at least 12% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010 and 16% by 2020 under agreements with the union. At present, the share of renewable energy produced in Bulgaria is around five percent and almost all of it is generated by hydropower plants.

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