Today, Deputy Prime Minister for Climate Policies and Minister of Environment and Water Borislav Sandov and the mayors of four municipalities - Yordan Yordanov (Dobrich municipality), Stanislav Vladimirov (Pernik municipality), Stanislav Dechev (Haskovo municipality) and Alexi Kesyakov (Chelopech municipality), signed implementation contracts for projects to reduce harmful emissions and adapt to climate change. They will be financed under the “Environmental Protection and Climate Change” Program, which is part of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area 2014-2021.

“Projects and activities of this kind make a real contribution to reducing the harmful impact on the climate and to adapting to climate change, they show us how we can achieve energy independence and reduce harmful emissions. The support and experience sharing from countries like Norway help bring about positive change in our society and institutions, which is also important for our green future,” said Minister Borislav Sandov.

The municipality of Pernik in partnership with the municipality of Bobov Dol plans to integrate a pilot system for the production of a hydrogen-oxygen mixture to the heating system of several municipal buildings. The expected effect is savings on fuel consumption of up to 50% and a reduction in harmful emissions. The project is worth 954 000 BGN.

Dobrich, together with the municipality of Krushari, will implement innovative measures to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change through the delivery and installation of photovoltaic panels on public buildings. The project is worth nearly 702 000 BGN.

The municipality of Haskovo, in partnership with Madjarovo and Stambolovo, envisages pilot measures in the field of energy and ecology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A green hydrogen system will be integrated in the building of the Old People's Home; photovoltaic systems for hot water in 8 kindergarten buildings; and a strategy for climate change mitigation and adaptation policies will be developed. The project is worth over 909 000 BGN.

Partners of Chelopech municipality are Mirkovo, Zlatitsa, and Koprivshtitsa in a project for the amount of 885,000 BGN. Among the planned measures are: rooftop photovoltaic installations for the electricity consumption of a school building, charging station for electric cars with photovoltaic power, solar hot water system in a kindergarten, as well as a pilot introduction of home composting for 250 households.

The program “Protection of the environment and climate change” is financed by the Financial Mechanism (FM) of the EEA. The budget of the program is 15.29 million EUR – 13 million EUR  is the grant amount from the EEA FM 2014-2021 and EUR 2.29 million is national co-funding. The program operator is the Directorate “Coordination of European Union Affairs and International Cooperation” at the Ministry of Education and Culture, while the partner from the donor countries is the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA).