Justification
The situation in Bourgas region (strong investors interest), as well as favorable climate conditions, are premise for the development of solar energy.

Specific Problems:
- The opinion that the utilization of RES requires massive installations outside the city limits.
o For PV we need large space
o For water plants we need a water source
o A restriction to build a wind turbine within 500m of the city limits.
- The opinion that in order to invest in those technologies you?ll need a great sum of money ? Problem with information ? to be presented in a way that the decision makers won?t hold back from the investment due to it?s high initial price.
- The use of one-sided popularization approach ? government directives and commercial clips of the manufacturers.
Solution to these problems:
The implementation of this project will solve those problems with the application of innovative complex approach ?Promotion-Construction-Demonstration?.
- In stage one ?Promotion we?ll involve the civic society in order to reach better the target group.
- Stage two ?Construction? is pure practical starting from the application ? to the start of the exploitation of the PV central.
- In stage three ?Demonstration? we?ll show the good practice to the target group, that PV is the only RES applicable in urban areas, with no restriction to the space, investments needed and the legislation.
Location
The project will be implemented in southeast planning region, on the territory of administrative center of Bourgas.
Project target groups
Direct beneficiaries of the project will be:
o Hotel owners.
o Building Mangers and Stakeholders.
o Local authorities in Bourgas, Pomorie and Nessebar.
o Managers of SMEs
o Schools and other public buildings
o Local community
Goal and expected impacts
The main goal of the project is to counteract against the global change of the climate via the initiation of partnership for formation of responsible energy politics and demonstration of the solar technologies advantages. The expected impacts are: Increased application of new technologies; Reduced emissions in Danube river, Black See and the Aegean sea; Climate changes; Increased revenue of the people involved in SGP projects; Development of cooperation/collaboration/awareness among NGO/PO and the local authorities in the region where SGP projects are implemented.
Objectives and expected results
The project objectives are: to contribute for the counteract against the climate change with the reduction of hothouse gases via the generation of electricity with photovoltaic cells; to increase the theoretical knowledge, the skills and practical training; to increase the awareness among at least 20% of the local community regarding the benefits from utilization of RES and to initiate a partnership for the formation of responsible politics for sustainable use of natural resources. We expect the following results: to license a Center for Vocational Training added to ?Vtori Shans?; to build a RES laboratory for the CVT; to disseminate printed materials to at least 2000 people and to reach up to 50 000 people via the local media.
Major Activities
The major activities we envisage are: Information and Distribution campaign to promote the opportunities for utilization of the Sun for generation of electricity in the Bourgas region; to start a Consultancy Center for RES; to build a Demonstration PV Central; to promote the project results; to keep sound and transparent records of the project documentation;
Partnership with GEF SGP proposals/projects
?Pilot Demonstration Model for Wind Audit and Energy Alternatives in Small Black Sea Municipalities?, implemented by Bourgas Regional Agency for Energy Management. To this moment BoRAEM has provided the data, about the community awareness about RES usability, acquired through interviews with representatives of the TU-Varna and the Business community.
Sustainability
o Financial Sustainability
The build RES Laboratory in CVT will be used for training courses. The revenue from generated electricity will provide stability after the end of the project. And we?ll also use the newly acquired expertise in Solar Audits to perform this service to investors.
o Integration in long term processes
We see as a natural continuation of the project activities, the collaboration with target group towards the implementation of the measures regarding the use of solar energy, set out in the municipality plans fro development and drawing of investors.
o Human Resources
The building managers and stakeholders will be more close to the idea for public-private partnerships for investments in solar technologies. The trained representatives of the target groups will gain expertise in installation, service of photovoltaic panels, and analysis of data, which they?ll put into practice in their future jobs.
Project Budget ? total, from GEF SGP, financial, in-kind - all in Bulgarian leva and percent of total
Total budget ? 103 626lv.
From GEF SGP ? 62 896 lv., which is 60,69% of the total budget
Financial co-financing ? 18884 lv., which is 30,02% of the SGP funds, and 18,22% of the total budget
In-kind co-financing ? 22 846 lv., which is 36,32% of the SGP funds, and 22,05% of the total budget.