Eurostat: Bulgaria uses renewable energy for heating and cooling above EU average

According to Eurostat, the share of renewable energy used for heating and cooling in the EU will continue to increase over the past year. The average was 26.2%, 1.2% higher than in 2022. The data are published on the Eurostat website.

Bulgaria is performing above the EU average: the share of renewable energy in heating and cooling is 34.9% compared to 31.7% in 2022, which puts the country in 13th place among EU countries.

Sweden currently leads with 67.1%, followed by Estonia (66.7%). These countries mainly use biomass and heat pumps. In third place is Latvia (61.4%), which uses mainly biomass.

The lowest shares of renewable energy use for heating and cooling are in Ireland (7.9%), the Netherlands (10.2%) and Belgium (11.3%).

In absolute terms, gross final consumption of renewable energy for heating and cooling in the EU is gradually increasing. From 2004 to 2023, this indicator has increased from 11.7% to 26.2% in the EU.

Prospects for the development of renewable energy sources for heating and cooling in Bulgaria 

Programmes for the use of solar and geothermal energy for heating and cooling are actively implemented in Bulgaria. The use of biomass also plays an important role, especially in rural areas. Government initiatives aim to increase the share of renewable energy in the domestic sector as well as in industry.

Incentives such as subsidies for the installation of solar panels and heat pumps are fuelling interest in green solutions. In recent years, the country has seen an increase in the number of projects to build geothermal plants and upgrade old heating systems to renewable sources.