ENERGY MANAGEMENT
BURNING TRUTH – THE LESSO A WOOD ENERGY SCHEME IN
O WEBS
Programme Manager, Mike Pitcher
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ne good piece of news amongst the uncertainty of the recent spending review was confirmation that the Renewable Heat
Incentive (RHI) will go ahead in 2011. Details of the RHI, including tariffs and technologies that will be supported, are due to be announced soon and Mike Pitcher from Forestry Commission Wales is anticipating even more interest from businesses in wood fuelled renewable heat. Mike is the Programme Manager for the Wood Energy Business Scheme (WEBS) which has supported 91 wood fuelled heating schemes since it was launched by Forestry Commission Wales in 2004. These schemes have ranged from installations in commercial buildings to small rural tourism businesses and from manufacturing businesses to hospitals and schools. WEBS has also funded 15
SUSTAINABLE FM | MARCH 2011
wood fuel supply businesses that produce wood chips and pellets.
Over the last few years, Mike and his team have had a unique opportunity to observe and learn about this emerging new industry and – in order to capture the lessons that have learnt – Mike recently commissioned some research into the installations funded by WEBS. Produced by Neil Harrison of SAC Consulting and Steve Luker Associates, The review of wood energy schemes in Wales highlights that, whilst many customers are satisfied with their wood heating systems, many others have experienced difficulties and challenges along the way.
Mike says, “None of the problems encountered are unsolvable, but the industry will continue to suffer more of the same if it does not learn from experience – in fact, the general lack of learning from one scheme to the next is our biggest concern.”
Although the aim of the research was
to help Forestry Commission Wales best manage WEBS, Mike soon realised that
many of the lessons that had been learnt could be of value well beyond this particular grant scheme.
“I feel that what we have learnt here
in Wales has implications for the wider UK wood energy sector, especially with the imminent introduction of the Renewable Heat Incentive, and so I am keen to share the findings of our research more widely,” he says.
Here, Mike outlines some of the lessons learnt from the installations funded by WEBS and some of the
recommendations made by the research.
LESSON 1 - DOMESTIC SCALE LOG AND PELLET SYSTEMS TEND TO WORK WELL
The level of satisfaction amongst the smaller log and pellet boiler customers seems high. This is largely because the smaller sites tend to present fewer technical challenges and most of the companies supplying products in this size range understand that they need to offer the client a comprehensive package to deliver a complete scheme.
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