A major project to build Bulgaria’s first floating solar power plant was presented in Sofia.

The construction of the plant in the area of the Ogosta dam (north-eastern Bulgaria) is expected to start in about two years and last one and a half to two years, which means that the facility will be put into operation within four years, told BTA the general manager of Profine Energy Bulgaria, Krum Vasilev, according to Agerpres.

In his opinion, the capacity of the solar park was initially planned at 500 – 800 MW, and the production at approximately 1,350 MWh.

The investment depends on the size of the park: it will be 800 million euros for 800 MW and 500 million euros for 500 MW (one million euros per 1 MWh), the director said.

The installation can occupy approximately 850 ha of the total area of 2,000 ha of the reservoir.

Vasilev is confident that the fish in the dam will not be affected. He attributes the “staged” protests against the project among the locals to the lack of information.

“We want to talk to them and explain to them what we are planning,” he said.

The Profine Energy GmbH group, which is based in Waghausel, Germany, has built similar floating parks in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Spain, explained the director of the Bulgarian subsidiary.