PIERRE JEAN COULON: “SOUTH STREAM” IS NOT OVER YET
Interviewer: Adriana Nikiforova
“The European Union should give more money and opportunities to build a natural gas distribution centre in Bulgaria,” said the President of the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society of the European Economic and Social Committee.
Mr Coulon, what does energy solidarity between European Union Member States mean? How will it help the Bulgarian consumer?
Some countries like Italy, France, Poland and the Czech Republic have many capacities for gas storage. However, some countries, such as Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia, do not have the opportunity to make repositories because of their geological features. Why not allow storage in other countries? I am a European. We have a hundred percent chance of storing gas, but others do not, but need gas.
Our goal is to find a way when a country needs gas in December, for example, and in the neighbouring country there is a repository, the necessary gas to be sent over from the deposited reserve. This is real solidarity.
What needs to be done to make this happen?
The next week I will talk to European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, in charge of the Energy Union, to take concrete steps for so-called energy solidarity.
They should not just repeat: “we have to do this and that”, but do something specific for the people.
We are preparing a resolution together with the Bulgarian Economic and Social Council, the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria and other non-governmental organizations, which we will bring to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Europe to say that there are some special markets in Europe.
Will the intention of the Bulgarian government to build a gas distribution centre in Bulgaria be included in your proposal?
Of course. The European Union should focus its attention on Bulgaria, provide more money and more opportunities.
The location of Bulgaria is very special. I am not saying this only because I am here, but because it is true. First, because the country is a EU Member State. Second, because you are very close to candidate countries such as Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia etc. Third, because the country is very close to the source of the raw material – Russia, Turkey, and that is very important.
Large foreign companies that have been working for 10 years in the field know Bulgaria but are not aware of its global role. They know mainly about the country’s old problems with nuclear power.
How do you see the idea of a common European energy market and what is the role of Bulgaria in it?
It is not true that there is a common European energy market, there is no such market that can cover the whole of Europe. However, there is a need to work towards creating strong regional markets. There is a Baltic market, there is a western one with Germany and France in it. However, one of the most important markets is in the Southeast, and here Bulgaria’s role is the most important one.
Therefore, we must provide special support to the South East to build interconnectors. Because your country does not have enough connections with Serbia, for example. This is much more important than building connections between Spain and France. Secondly, natural gas is very important. Everyone is talking about South Stream, North Stream, Turkish Stream. What does this mean?
Building these projects is a political, not a technical, not even an energy problem. It is absolutely wrong to say that Turkey is not good enough, Serbia is not good enough, that only the EU is good enough. We have to work with everyone.
In Bulgaria, the price of electricity always receives the most attention.
We have to answer the question, are we sure that the cost of production is so high? What is the difference between the selling price and the production cost? Sometimes the production cost is not so high, but there is a huge difference between the production cost and the price we pay as consumers. 50% of the difference goes to the companies, the mayor of the city, etc. If companies are not happy, this is not my problem. I work for the people, for the citizens, the only important thing for me is democracy, the transparency of the market.
Why do you think South Stream failed, was it only due to political reasons?
“South Stream” is not over yet. In my opinion, this project can be implemented.
In Cyprus they discovered gas. In Libya and Israel they also found gas under the sea. Indeed, there are difficult talks between Israel, Libya, Turkey and Cyprus. Very difficult. But what is difficulty in the field of politics when financial and energy opportunities are involved? Probably these negotiations will succeed, and if this happens, “South Stream” will revive. It is important that decisions are made not by outsiders but by those who are familiar with the South Stream project.
What should Bulgaria’s policy be in the field of energy?
Each individual country can make its own unique policy. We are actually obliged to mix different sources of energy. I will use Bulgaria as an example. Relatively speaking 40% of the energy in Bulgaria comes from coal, 35% from nuclear energy and 30% from renewable sources.
This ratio in the energy mix needs to be changed to allow for price reductions.
We are obliged to use less coal in the future because of climate problems, the same applies to nuclear power for the next 20-25 years and you need to introduce more renewable sources and natural gas. The problem of energy from wind and sun is that it is inconstant.
Is it not also too expensive for the end user?
Yes, but it is possible to reduce the production costs of solar and wind energy if it is stored. This was not possible 10 years ago, but now we can store in batteries during the day when it is sunny and use during the hours when there is no sun.
For example, in the family, everyone goes to work or school in the morning, returns in the evening, and then you need electricity because there is no sun anymore, but you have stored energy. This is the independence of the family, the neighbourhood, the city, the state. More importantly, if you produce more than you need, you can store it and send it to, for example, Romania.
This is the future – gas, nuclear energy, renewable sources, as well as storage. This is the future, but it needs a lot of investment