It was not always smooth sailing, but Enel’s long-running project to upgrade Maritza East 3, the company’s Bulgarian thermal power plant, has finally been completed in May 2009.

The environmental upgrades, which ensure that the power station is now compliant with the European Union’s environmental standards, and the additional work to increase the plant’s capacity to 908MW, from 840MW, cost a total 700 million euro over six years, extending the operational lifespan of the power station by 15 years. The desulfurisation installations alone, which will now capture 94 per cent of the sulphur in the flue gas, cost 160 million euro.

The first major energy sector investment project in South Eastern Europe financed without state guarantees, it made Maritza East 3 the only lignite power plant in the Balkans fully compliant with the latest EU environmental standards, the company said on May 19.

"The completion of this project is a major step ahead towards the introduction of cleaner coal energy generation in Bulgaria, a remarkable move on the path to sustainable development," Enel board chairperson Piero Gnudi said in a statement.

Enel, included in the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for five years running, has repeatedly emphasised its commitment to greener energy. In Bulgaria, in addition to clean coal, that includes the acquisition of 13 wind power projects from the local unit of Danish renewable energy producer Global Wind Power in 2008 and plans to start work on two new wind power projects by the end of the year. The group has also said it was interested in building solar parks in Bulgaria.

Enel has a 73 per cent stake in the Maritza East 3 coal-fired plant, the rest owned by national power grid operator NEK. Located in the Maritza East lignite coal mining complex in southern Bulgaria, the company has said it was interested in building a new thermal power plant on the site, should the Cabinet launch a tender for a new generator.

Bulgaria still has a long way to go to improve its track record on clean energy and greenhouse gas emissions, but with Enel’s help, it has been moving forward. "Bulgaria can no longer do without Enel and I hope that Enel cannot do without Bulgaria," Economy Minister Petar Dimitrov said at the official celebration of the Maritza East 3 project completion.