GDF Suez gears for sale of Bulgarian electricity in region

The Romanian unit of energy company GDF Suez has submitted an application for a licence to enter the Bulgarian power market, the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC) said on Tuesday.

The company explained the timing has to do with the pick-up the market is experiencing at the moment, noting that it plans to sell electricity oversees and not in Bulgaria.

Plans call for purchasing power from Bulgarian generators and sell it on in Romania, Greece and Turkey.

In a report filed with the SEWRC, the French company said it will trade in Bulgarian power through Bucharest-based entity GDF Suez Energy Trading Bulgaria. The new unit is 100%-owned by a Romania-registered company by the same name, which is in turn owned by Belgium’s Electrabel.

Bulgaria’s energy watchdog will come up with a decision on the licence application at a closed-doors session on September 13.

GDF Suez has submitted with the regulator a business plan by 2014, where it outlines buyout electricity prices of EUR 43 per MWh against a transmission fee of EUR 9.3. However, SEWRC sees this is an unrealistically low price.

A company representative said GDF Suez is not interested in the rates at which power sells on Bulgaria’s regulated market because they would not affect its operations.