Search Climate Insights Directory

Bulgaria, the EU's most carbon-intensive economy, can use carbon capture and storage (CCS) to decarbonise its chemical, refinery, and cement sectors. While the country lacks a cohesive deployment strategy, it has a legal foundation via the EU CCS Directive and significant estimated storage capacity of 2.6 Gt. The ANRAV project, supported by a €190 million EU Innovation Fund grant, aims to be Eastern Europe's first full value chain CCS project, targeting a 95% emissions reduction from the Devnya Cement Plant by 2028.

The document reports systemic violations of SO2 limit values in Bulgaria, specifically in the Galabovo and Pernik regions. It argues that Bulgarian authorities are failing to enforce the Air Quality Plan of Galabovo (2019–2023) by granting power plants derogations from desulphurisation standards and allowing boilers to operate without abatement systems. Additionally, it notes the absence of a required short-term action plan to reduce emissions during alert threshold exceedances.