The Plovdiv district heating company has asked the national power regulator to extend by 10 years its heating energy production permit which expires in Oct 2007. The utility, generating steam in 5 power stations, turned in a profit of BGN 1.2m in 2006. Last year Austria's EVN was chosen to acquire the Plovdiv heating utility for EUR 32.1m. The deal is yet pending for approval from the anti-trust authority. The buyer has announced plans for building a co-generation facility and selling both electricity and heating energy to the subscribers.