Effective spatial planning is crucial for cost-effectively and sustainably developing biomass energy resources due to the diffuse nature of biomass and high transportation cost. Using the spatial analysis technology, economic models and scenario analysis, this paper presents a spatial planning framework to identify the appropriate developing areas of biomass energy at regional level. The methodology is applied in a case study of Fujian Province, China. Firstly, spatial distribution of two kinds of biomass resources and the technical potential, i.e. the amount of power generation from agricultural and forestry residues in each supply area, were estimated by incorporating the spatial data and the statistical data. The results indicate that total technical potential of agricultural and forestry residues is estimated at 25.13 TW h y(-1), equivalent to approximately 19% of total electricity consumption in Fujian in 2010. In the second step, the economic analysis assesses the cost of biomass generation for each supply area on the basis of current market conditions. Ranking of the supply areas is then performed by using the priority development index (PDI), which can measure the priority of each biomass supply area by combining several influencing indicators. Finally, the selection of supply areas for power plants can be carried out according to its order in PDI until the total planed capacity in the region is met. The priority of the sub-regions and the corresponding cost of biomass generation for different planning scenarios can be explicitly visualized. The methodology can be applied to a wide area and can support the local authorities to define and implement a strategy for future biomass energy development. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.