Bulgaria suspends 40 percent of wind, solar power capacity

* Minister seeks audits in state energy companies

* Urges regulator to review high fees to boost power exports

* Green energy industry says suspension will be catastrophic

By Tsvetelia Tsolova

SOFIA, March 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria said it will suspend about 40 percent of its wind and solar installations to balance a power system in danger of instability due to a huge excess of capacity after a drop in consumption and exports.

"The energy system at present is very ill and very inefficient," interim energy minister Arsen Vasilev told reporters on Tuesday.

Vasilev said the operations of about 40 percent of wind and solar power parks would be stopped temporarily due to their failure to send real time production data to the grid operator, increasing the system's instability in breach of the energy law.

Producers who complied with the law would be reconnected.

Bulgaria has about 1,600 megawatts in wind and solar power capacity out of total installed power generation capacity of 12,000 MW.

Concern over energy is a central issue of Bulgarian politics. Protests over state corruption and high prices charged by energy monopolies toppled the centre-right government in February.

The unrest may erupt again if the interim government fails to show it is working to boost transparency and lower power costs to consumers in the European Union's poorest country.

CALL FOR AUDIT

Vasilev said he had asked the anti-monopoly watchdog to examine whether power producers and traders were playing by market rules and called for an audit of big state electricity companies.

The renewable power industry voiced surprise at the decision to impose the suspensions, saying it had secured agreement for a two-month period to install the necessary equipment.

"If they go ahead with this, it will be a final, catastrophic blow to the renewable energy producers," said Mariana Yaneva with the Bulgarian Wind Energy Association.

The renewable power sector is still smarting from the regulator's imposition in September of grid access fees that effectively cut 10 to 40 percent of green energy producers' income. Earlier this month a Bulgarian court ruled against the fees in a case brought by three solar developers, the first of many such appeals.

After a cold winter drove up Bulgarian electricity bills, power consumption dropped in March, forcing the grid operator to suspend the operation of some coal-fired plants to avoid overloading the system.

The energy regulator cut electricity prices by an average of 7 percent in March and said it would seek ways to decrease costs further.

The country's exports have also plunged, partially due to subdued demand across Balkan countries but also because of hefty export fees on Bulgarian electricity.

"The installed capacities are two-and-a half-times the amount the country consumes and exports," Vasilev said.

He said he had asked the energy regulator to review the current electricity transmission fee of 15.7 euros per megawatt-hour for exports of electricity from Bulgaria, to boost trade.

Other measures include a decrease in the capacity kept in reserve to secure supply in case of emergency, as well looking for ways to ease technical and administrative obstacles to increased exports to Turkey.

(Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Anthony Barker)

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Keywords: BULGARIA ENERGY/