Bulgaria’s caretaker government has presented a new energy strategy until 2053 which includes the revival of the two-unit Belene nuclear new-build project and the proposed construction of two new reactors at the existing Kozloduy site.

The move comes amidst the collapse of governing coalition talks which means Bulgarians will head to the polls in late March or early April for a fifth general election in two years.

This means the new strategy, which says Sofia’s energy policy focus until 2053 should be the nuclear and renewables, might struggle to get approval. Bulgaria’s parliament will soon be dismissed by the president and a new general election scheduled.

Bulgaria’s caretaker energy ministry has said it wants to use the new strategy to renegotiate them country’s recovery and resilience plan with the European Commission as part of the bloc’s REPowerEU plan to reduce emissions targets. Bulgaria says it can no longer meet the obligation to lower carbon emissions from energy production by 40% from the 2019 level by 2025.