BIOMASS
| Rural Energy
Heating the NHS with biomass technology
The installation of a biomass boiler into the brand new £40 million NHS mental health facility in Blackpool has helped deliver a sustainable and low carbon building with a long lifespan, says Paul Clark, Managing Director at Rural Energy
L
ancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust has chosen biomass technology supplied by Rural Energy to heat its new £40 million mental health facility, The Harbour in Blackpool.
The new biomass boiler has helped The Harbour project meet the high standards set by Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) to deliver a sustainable and low carbon building with a long lifespan. In addition, the Herz BioFire 600kW boiler will greatly reduce the facility’s energy bills while also providing a significant income from the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.
This design and development process was
led by principal contractor Integrated Health Projects (IHP), a joint venture between Sir Robert McAlpine and VINCI Construction UK.
Advice and guidance In alignment with the Trust’s commitment to using low carbon technologies, Rural Energy has worked closely with NG Bailey, the mechanical and electrical (M&E) contractor on this project, to understand the Trust’s scope and expectations. Providing expert advice and guidance since the beginning of the project, Rural Energy specified a bespoke biomass solution that included a Herz BioFire 600kW biomass boiler and a giant underground fuel store for the state-of-the- art facility. In partnership with NG Bailey and Glosfume, the installation began in February 2014 and incorporates the largest fuel feed and store that Rural Energy has ever installed. The massive 157 square metre fuel store was specified as part of a complicated design
process and will reduce the number of fuel deliveries needed, but more importantly, will also reduce potential disruption to residents of the facility.
The installation was further supported by
filtration specialists Glosfume, who provided an advanced ceramic filtration system. Nigel Black, Technical Director at Glosfume, said
“The ceramic filtration system is extremely effective and will remove the particulates from the boiler emissions down to a level comparable with a gas boiler and improve the air quality of the surrounding area.” The Harbour, which has 154 bedrooms, is one of the largest facilities of its type in the North West and will provide high quality inpatient care to those recovering from mental health issues.
Bespoke renewable solution Paul Clark, Managing Director at Rural Energy, said “This was a challenging project with tight timescales and significant space limitations on site but we are delighted with the finished result. Rural Energy has been involved with this project for a number of years, providing technical and logistical advice since the public consultation stage. We have journeyed with the Trust and provided a bespoke renewable solution that will provide low-cost heating long into the future.” David Hughes, Project Engineer at NG Bailey said “The project involved an incredible amount of upfront planning with regular design reviews, so it’s great to see the work complete with the facility receiving its first delivery of wood chip just recently.” Both the physical size of the biomass plant and the layout of the site required expert planning from Rural Energy and its partners. The design of the fuel store was particularly complex with the three five- metre filling screws installed at a low level to fully utilise the storage space in the bunker for wood chip. Alistair Rose, Project Director at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Finding the right renewable energy solution for this project was absolutely key. The highly cost-effective heating solution and the requirement to reduce fuel delivery frequencies and costs by using the largest vehicles possible, influenced the layout of the whole site and the location of the energy centre relative to the site circulation road. As a result, the details and benefits of the heating solution had to be understood at a very early design stage for the whole project to support and influence the project architects.” With over 12 years at the leading edge of biomass technology, Rural Energy is one of the UK’s most experienced biomass distributors and installers, and is the sole UK supplier of the Austrian Herz brand of boiler. Rural Energy offers a full turnkey service from survey and design, through to installation and on-going maintenance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0203 189 0666 Email:
info@ruralenergy.co.uk www.ruralenergy.co.uk
32 REview Renewable Energy View 2015
www.r-e-a.net
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100