Investments to produce heat, electricity and biogas from biomass, mainly foreign, can exceed BGN 1 milliard in the next three years, announced the Minister of Agriculture and Food Dr. Miroslav Naydenov, who opened the conference "Investments in biomass”. More than 100 projects have already been submitted. Among the largest is that of Gaz de France Company. They want to invest over EUR 100 million in two plants in Bulgaria, Minister said. He added that most of the investors will receive a first class preferences and ability to provide 20 year long-term contracts for the purchase of electricity and supply of raw materials. In his opinion, electricity produced from biomass will be several times cheaper than that of wind and photovoltaic plants.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry Emil Dimitrov said that with the introduction of incentives for heat and electricity production from biomass over 30,000 new jobs will be created, mainly in areas where depopulation and unemployment are very high.
Biomass can be provided from agriculture and forestry. Waste and unused biomass includes wood residues from forest activities (tree branches and loppings), industrial wood waste (sawdust, bark, lumber offcuts, black liquor, etc..) construction wood wastes, solid agricultural wastes (straw, corn and sunflower stalks, vine sticks, branches from the pruning of fruit trees, tobacco stems), manure from livestock farms, daily solid wastes, sediments from wastewater treatment plants.
It is necessary to identify appropriate areas in the land and forestry funds for establishing energy crops. It takes a whole complex of measures and mechanisms in all areas inclusive legal, tax, financial and organizational, to allow biomass to establish itself as an alternative energy source competitive with conventional fuels