24 - Establishing energy communities in postcommunist states: the case of Bulgaria

Abstract

Countries like Bulgaria face unique challenges in adopting energy communities, including a complex historical relationship to collective ownership, largely due to the country's experiences during the socialist period from 1945 to 1989, which saw the forced collectivization of private land and the dismantling of many of the country's cooperatives. Similar forced collectivization occurred in other countries throughout central and Eastern Europe such as Poland and Romania. As a result of these and other factors, a different set of policies and interventions is likely to be required to encourage the growth of energy communities in countries like Bulgaria.