Investments in production of heating energy, electricity and biofuel from biomass in Bulgaria could reach one billion leva over the next three years, Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov said on May 14 2011. The segment has lured mainly foreign companies, he said.

Altogether, the country has attracted more than 100 biomass projects. Among the major foreign investors is French utility group GDF Suez, which recently said it was ready to invest more than 100 million euro in the construction of two biomass plants in Bulgaria.

A considerable part of the companies keen to invest in Bulgaria's biomass sector will be granted first-class investor preferentials and long-term contracts.

According to Naidenov, the price of electricity derived from biomass will be several times cheaper than that produced by wind or photovoltaic plants.