14.12.2021
In December 2021 the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (FEBA) of Sofia University organized in partnership with guest lecturers from the energy sector a series of capacity building workshops on energy markets and prices. The format of the certification training was designed to best suit the interests of journalists, media representatives and opinion makers. The topics of the training touched upon the factors and preconditions for the record-braking prices of energy globally in recent months and impacts in the national and regional context. This initiative continues FEBA’s efforts to provide academic knowledge beyond the doors of its audiences and to facilitate knowledge exchange and various views sharing on trending economic and social issues.
The third and the last module of the capacity building examined the markets of electricity, natural gas and energy products in Bulgaria and in the region from the energy traders’ perspective. Krasimir Zhivachki, Executive Secretary of the Association of Energy Traders in Bulgaria, described the peculiarities of the Bulgarian electricity market, its historical evolution, and current similarities with other European markets. He paid special attention to purchasing management, analyzing the concentration of Bulgarian market players in the short-term electricity trading segment, which determines their dependence on the ‘Day-Ahead’ market, where about 80% of the non-regulated energy quantities are traded.
The discussion also covered the regional perspective, including determinants of regional wholesale markets, such as natural gas prices on the European gas hubs, prices of imported coal, prices of greenhouse gas emission allowances, dependencies on financial market developments, planned and emergency repairs of large power plants, weather conditions, as well as cross-border flows and influences from neighboring markets. The training session ended with a summary of the new market realities, the plans of Bulgaria's neighboring countries for the construction of large energy capacities and possible solutions to the energy price crisis such as extensive investments in interconnection capacities and low-cost renewable energy sources.