With oil and gas prices continually rising, the heating of large residences and farms is becoming increasingly more expensive with people looking to alternatives to conventional heating.
A biomass boiler may be one such alternative. Fuelled by woodchips, these boilers will efficiently heat a number of buildings on a farm or an estate and can be installed into existing buildings that are converted for their use. If a project meets certain eligibility criteria then grants may be available to help with the development costs.
Chartered surveyors Fisher German have recently overseen the installation of a new biomass boiler at the Thorpe Estate near Tamworth. It replaced several existing oil fired boilers and is situated in the rear of a large building which formerly housed the dairy unit now converted into a potato store. A new energy supply company has been formed to operate the boiler and to sell heat to the various users including Thorpe Hall, the office development in the Old Stables and three other dwellings at Home Farm.
The new biomass district heating scheme at Thorpe was commissioned in March; a grant of £152,900 was paid on an eligible capital cost of about £400,000. The grant was made available from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) under the Bio Energy Capital Grant Scheme (Round 5) which supports renewable energy projects.
David Legh of chartered surveyors Fisher German comments, "We were faced with replacing several oil fired boilers including an elderly inefficient one in the hall. We looked at a number of options, but concluded the most viable option for the client was a biomass boiler.
"Woodchip fuel for the boiler currently comes from a competitive supplier, however over time fuel such as willow coppice will be grown on site as well as using wood from the existing woodland, helping to produce a cost saving for the client. We have had a lot of interest from interested parties looking to develop this source of heat generation".
For further information regarding biomass heating systems or grants that are available for its development, please call David Legh on 01785 273988 or email david.legh@fishergerman.co.uk
