Purpose of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessments
The transaction will finance construction of a 2 x 300 MW net lignite-fired power plant (ME1) at Maritsa, Bulgaria. The plant will replace an existing 500 MW of older, less efficient capacity, of which 300 MW have already been phased out and dismantled.
The project sponsor is AES Corp. AES will own the AES-3C Maritza East I EOOD, a special purpose company established to build, own and operate the plant. The power from the plant will be sold to NEK, the state-owned utility.
The project represents a major step for private sector participation in the Bulgarian economy as it is one of the country’s largest foreign investment projects to date. A strong “demonstration effect” will be provided by the successful operation of a privatized generator in a liberalized market and the environmental benefits of introducing improved technology that will lead to compliance with EU environmental standards.
In addition, the investment will also contribute to the advancement of the current restructuring of the sector. This restructuring is a condition to Bulgaria’s EU accession by 2008.
There is a project summary document available for this project.
ESIA Summary
EIA summary (English) (536KB - PDF)
EIA summary (Bulgarian) (1MB - PDF)
Full ESIA availability
Full ESIA documentation is available locally at:
EBRD Headquarters in London, environmentandsocial@ebrd.com
And
AES Sofia Office
67 Vitosha Blvd,
1st Floor ap. 4,
Sofia 1000,
Bulgaria
Tel: +359 2 988 1275
Fax:+359 2 986 7549
Contact: Nadja Zelyova
Galabovo Municipality
59 Dimitar Blagoev Str.
Galabovo, Bulgaria
Phone: +359 418 2343
Fax: +359 418 4194
Contact: Svetla Shikova, Head of Environmental Dept.
EBRD Sofia Office
17 Moskovska Street,
1000 Sofia,
Bulgaria
Tel: +359 2 9321 414
Fax: +359 2 9321 441
Contact: Tero Halmari
Enquiries
Environmental enquiries:
Peter Barrett
AES Corp.
37 Kew Foot Road,
Richmond,
Surrey
TW9 2SS
Tel: +44 20 8334 5336
Email: pbarrett@aes.com
This document was prepared at an early stage of project development, before consideration by the EBRD Board of Directors. Details of a project may change following disclosure.
Environmental and Social Impact Assessments and ESIA summaries are produced by project sponsors, and the EBRD makes them available without any comment or implied endorsement. Any views expressed or statements made in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment or the ESIA Summary do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the EBRD.
Last updated 25 June 2014
