Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev and Country Director of Veolia for Bulgaria, Greece and Albania Francois Debergh signed a memorandum of cooperation for the construction of small hydropower plants (small HPPs) along the trunk water mains of Sofia.

The signing took place after the establishment of a working group to survey the possibility for implementation of the project and a decision of the Sofia Municipal Council. The event was attended also by Prof. Vili Lilkov, chairman of the working group, Alexander Alexandrov, chairman of the Engineering Infrastructure Committee and councilor Greti Stefanova.  

“Our goal is to work consistently for making Sofia a sustainable, energy-efficient and modern European city. One of the key priorities in our vision for development is the use of renewable energy sources. Therefore, among the important fields in which we are working is the construction of small hydropower plants that will allow the city to generate clean electricity locally – with care for nature”, said Mayor Vasil Terziev. 

Such facilities will not only contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of the capital city, but they also improve the efficient management of the water resources.

With these types of projects, Sofia is taking an important step towards energy independence, meeting the climate neutrality goals of the city, part of NET Zero Cities initiative for reduction of the carbon footprint on the territory of the Municipality of Sofia by implementing projects for energy production from renewable sources. 

“The project is an example of how the existing infrastructure can be best utilised in order to produce clean energy. After the commissioning, the plants will produce approximately 12 GWh of renewable energy annually, which will contribute to our saving additionally over 8,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. The memorandum is fully aligned with Sofia’s commitments to climate neutrality and Veolia’s participation in the Net Zero Cities initiative”, said Mr. Debergh after the signing.

Sofiyska Voda’s investment in smallhydropower plants is yet another step in Veolia’s global GreenUp strategy and the big objective of accelerating ecological transformation. Within that framework, the Group envisages 150 million EUR investments by 2027 for the production of additional green energy and reduction of our energy consumption. All companies within the Veolia Group, as is also Sofiyska Voda AD, contribute to the fulfillment of that objective at a regional level. 

In this big picture, Bulgaria has already established its contribution to the ecological transformation with Sofia’s Wastewater Treatment Plant in Kubratovo, which has been energy independent since 2015 and produces biogas from the sludge separated in the water treatment process. This ensures average annual savings of 70,000 tonnes of carbon emissions (CO2). Another 8,000 tonnes of emissions a year could be saved through the production of energy by the two small HPPs. A future solar plant is also pending construction, with which Sofiyska Voda, part of Veolia, will become the first energy neutral WSS company in the region, and one of the few ones on a global scale.