Mitsubishi to build 200 MW wind parks in Bulgaria

SOFIA, March 10 (Bulgaria) - A group of companies led by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T) plans to invest a total of 400 million euro ($507.5 million) in two wind energy parks in Bulgaria, an industry association said on Tuesday.

Construction of one of the 100 megawatt (MW) parks near the town of Sliven, some 250 kilometres east of Sofia, is expected to start by the end of the year and become operational by 2011, the Bulgarian-Japanese association for wind and photovoltaic energy said.

Mitsubishi also plans to build another 100 MW wind farm near the northern town of Pleven and a 40 million euro 10 MW solar park in the same region, the association's chief executive Petar Atanassov told Reuters.

Construction of the second wind park is expected to start by the end of 2010 and begin producing electricity by 2013.

Wind park projects in Bulgaria have recently mushroomed as investors take advantage of government subsidies for renewable energy, aimed at boosting its share to meet European Union targets. [ID:nLB278328] [ID:nLH704139] [ID:nLG303538]

Currently, the EU newcomer's installed wind power capacity totals 70 MW, generating just over 1 percent of electricity consumption. Bulgaria gets about 43 percent of its power from coal and 40 percent from nuclear energy.

The Balkan country plans to increase the share of renewable energy to 16 percent by 2020 as part of EU efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and expand green energy production. (Reporting by Irina Ivanova; editing by James Jukwey)