"District Heating Sofia" is the district heating company in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It is the oldest and largest district heating network in Bulgaria (and, according to the company's website, on the Balkan Peninsula), brought into use in 1949 with the opening of the first combined heat and power plant – TEC Sofia. [1] Toplofikatsiya Sofia is a single-member JSC and holds a monopoly on heat distribution in the city. As of 2012, the company has a hot water and steam distribution network of over 950 km throughout the city [2] [3] (slide 3) and has over 430 000 clients. [4] (p. 15)
The company has four power stations – two cogeneration plants, and two heat-only boiler stations –
| Name | Heat energy capacity (MWt) | Heat energy output (2011) (MWth) | Electric capacity (MWe) | Electric output (2011) (MWeh) | Built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEC Sofia | 1 790 [5] | 1 170 000 [6] | 125 | 315 000 [6] | 1949 [1] | - |
| TEC Sofia East | 2 010 [5] | 1 860 000 [6] | 186 | 650 000 [6] | 1964 [1] | - |
| OC Zemlyane | 580 [5] | 930 000 [6] | – | – | 1972 [1] | - |
| OC Lyulin | 580 [5] | 550 000 [6] | – | – | 1977 [1] | - |
| Total | 5 000 [2] [7] | 5 100 000 [6] [7] | 280 [7] | 1 020 000 [6] | – | - |
The company also has several temporary boiler stations throughout the city, which are usually only used during the winter months.
As of February 2013, part of the 2013 Bulgarian protests are aimed at the business model employed by Toplofikatsiya Sofia, with protesters complaining about high bills and lack of transparency in the company's practices. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The city is at the foot of Vitosha mountain in the western part of the country. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, and closest to the Aegean Sea.
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Trigeneration or combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) refers to the simultaneous generation of electricity and useful heating and cooling from the combustion of a fuel or a solar heat collector. The terms cogeneration and trigeneration can also be applied to the power systems simultaneously generating electricity, heat, and industrial chemicals.
A central heating system provides warmth to the whole interior of a building from one point to multiple rooms. When combined with other systems in order to control the building climate, the whole system may be an HVAC system.
District heating is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating and water heating. The heat is often obtained from a cogeneration plant burning fossil fuels or biomass, but heat-only boiler stations, geothermal heating, heat pumps and central solar heating are also used, as well as heat waste from nuclear power electricity generation. District heating plants can provide higher efficiencies and better pollution control than localized boilers. According to some research, district heating with combined heat and power (CHPDH) is the cheapest method of cutting carbon emissions, and has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all fossil generation plants. Fifth generation district heat networks do not use combustion on-site and have zero emissions of CO2 and NO2 on-site; they employ heat transfer which uses electricity which may be generated from renewable energy, or from remote fossil fuelled power stations. A combination of CHP and centralized heat pumps are used in the Stockholm multi energy system. This allows the production of heat through electricity when there is an abundance of intermittent power production and cogeneration of electric power and district heating when the availability of intermittent power production is low.
Allegheny Energy was an electric utility headquartered in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It owned and operated electric generation facilities and delivered electric services to customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. Allegheny Energy was incorporated in Maryland in 1925. One of its predecessor companies dates back to the formation of West Penn Power on January 31, 1907.
FC Montana is a Bulgarian association football club based in Montana, which currently plays in the Bulgarian Second League, the second tier of Bulgarian football.
Central Heat Distribution Ltd. (CHDL) is a private district heating company located at 720 Beatty Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that provides heat to the Downtown Core including the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, B.C. Place, GM Place, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Pacific Centre and most major hotel/office/condo towers such as Shaw Tower via a 10.5 km network of high-pressure pipes between five centimetres and 50 centimetres in diameter running anywhere from one to five metres below street surfaces. The world-famous steam clock in Gastown is a notable addition to the more than 180 buildings that are served by the natural gas powered boiler located in the Stadium/Entertainment district of downtown.
The 2008 Bulgarian Energy Crisis was a crisis in Bulgaria. The crisis affected more than a million households, mainly in the capital Sofia but also in Burgas, Pleven, and Vratsa. As of late September 2008, the issue was not resolved.
Rosen Asenov Plevneliev is a Bulgarian politician who was the 4th President of Bulgaria, holding the position from January 2012 to January 2017. He was the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works from July 2009 to September 2011 as part of the cabinet of Boyko Borisov. In October 2011, Plevneliev was elected as President in a second round of voting; he was inaugurated on 18 January 2012.
Solar power in Denmark contributes to a goal to use 100% renewable energy by 2050. The goal of 200 MW of photovoltaics by 2020 was reached eight years early, in 2012, and 36 MW was being installed each month. Denmark had 790 MW in late 2015. A total of 3,400 MW is expected to be installed by 2030. Many solar-thermal district heating plants exist and are planned in Denmark.
Knyaginya Maria Luiza Metro Station is the 21st station to open on the Sofia Metro in Bulgaria. It is situated near the Nadezhda road junction in the northern part of Sofia, at the intersection of Maria Luiza Boulevard and Gen. Stoletov Blvd. It opened on 31 August 2012 and is also known as the fifth station on the second BLUE line of the metro. It was also the first station on the path of the TBM, which worked on the section between stations 5-II and 9-II, entirely constructed by the Turkish company Doğuş Construction, part of Doğuş Holding. The station is a shallow triple-span station with two rows of concrete and steel columns. It serves two central tracks and two side platforms. There are four street entrances, two on each side of the boulevard after which the station is named. They lead to a central vestibule, directly above the station.
The 2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet were civil demonstrations against high electricity and hot water bills resulting from monopolism in the sphere that began in Blagoevgrad on 28 January 2013, and subsequently spread to over 30 cities in Bulgaria that ended with the resignation of the Boyko Borisov government on 20 February 2013. They were caused by abnormally high electricity bills, but later turned into a mass non-partisan movement against the government and the political system. The events were marked by seven self-immolations, spontaneous demonstrations and a strong sentiment against political parties.
Plamen Goranov was a Bulgarian photographer and mountain climber, and a Varna-based local protest leader of the 2013 Bulgarian nationwide protests. He became a symbol of the Bulgarian social protest movements and a catalyst for nationwide protests and government resignations when on 20 February 2013 he set himself on fire in front of the Varna municipal building. He died from his injuries in a local hospital on 3 March, Bulgarian Liberation Day, a Bulgarian national holiday celebrating liberation from five centuries of Ottoman rule. Goranov protested against the organized crime group TIM and the TIM-controlled Varna mayor Kiril Yordanov.
Toplofikatsiya Ruse is the district heating company in the city of Ruse in Northern Bulgaria. As of 2011, the company is owned by Russian company Mechel.
Toplofikatsiya Plovdiv is the district heating company in the city of Plovdiv in Southern Bulgaria. It is one of the largest district heating networks in the country, also supplying heat energy to the town of Asenovgrad, around 10 km to the southeast, and serves a total of 35 000 customers.
Mihail Raykov Mikov is a Bulgarian politician who was Chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) from 2014 to 2016. He is a parliamentarian with six consecutive terms as a deputy in the National Assembly. His career in the legislature culminated in his election as Chairman of the 42nd National Assembly on May 21, 2013. Mikov was Minister of Interior from 24 April 2008 to 29 July 2009 in Sergei Stanishev's government. Currently he is the leader of the Parliamentary Group of BSP Left Bulgaria in the 43rd National Assembly, the coalition led by the socialist party. Mihail Mikov was elected as Chairman of the BSP on 27 July 2014, succeeding Sergei Stanishev. He won a run-off against outgoing Economy and Energy Minister Dragomir Stoynev with a final tally of 377-333.
Delyan Slavchev Peevski is a Bulgarian politician, oligarch, entrepreneur and media mogul. He serves as MP from the parliamentary group of the DPS in the 41st, 42nd, 43rd and 44th National Assembly.
The eighty-seventh Cabinet of Bulgaria was a minority government chaired by Boyko Borisov. The government was formed after Borisov's party, GERB, won the 2009 parliamentary election. It remained in power relying on support from the opposition parties for almost four years before resigning following nationwide protests.
Boyko Metodiev Borisov is a Bulgarian politician who has been serving as Prime Minister of Bulgaria since May 2017. He was previously Prime Minister on two other occasions, from 2009 to 2013, and from 2014 to January 2017, making him Bulgaria's third-longest serving Prime Minister to date.
Sotir Stefanov Tsatsarov is a Bulgarian jurist who has been serving as the chief prosecutor of Bulgaria since December 2012. Tsatsarov allegedly owes his appointment to Delyan Peevski, a media mogul and member of Bulgaria's Parliament, and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. His time in office has been overshadowed by controversial investigations of political opposition leaders, famous businessmen, and independent media. Prominent Bulgarian jurists, including the heads of Bulgaria's main appellate courts, have asked for his resignation.
| Nuclear power plants: | |
|---|---|
| Thermal power plants: |
|
| Hydro power plants: |
|
