Wood Energy Installations in the Western Region: Report
The Western Development Commission recently released their Report “Wood Energy Installations in the Western Region”. This market research report presents a review of medium scale wood energy installations (defined as systems with a boiler size range of 60kW to 1MW) in the Western Region of Ireland. The study was undertaken as part of the EU bioenergy project RASLRES under the INTERREG IVB Northern Periphery Programme. The following paragraphs provide the Executive Summary to the Report.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report presents a profile of current wood energy users in the region and documents the lessons learnt from operation of installations to date. The analysis informs on future industry planning by detailing the baseline of current demand in this market segment, and by providing guidance to potential wood energy users on key issues to consider when developing a project.
Discussion on Wood Energy Installations
The study identified 39 medium scale wood fuelled installations with a total installed capacity of 10.2MW in the region. Site visits were carried out to 25 installations and a visual inspection of the system and questionnaire was completed at each site. A further six questionnaires were completed by telephone interview.
The wood energy sector was operating across the seven counties of the region. County Donegal had the highest level of deployment with 15 installations and a total installed capacity of 4,409kW. The next highest levels of deployment were in counties Clare (7 boilers with 2,200kW installed capacity) and Galway (6 boilers with 1,350kW installed capacity). Twenty-four boilers (9.2MW installed capacity) were installed between 2006 and 2008, and there has been a low level of annual deployment since 2008. Twenty-five boilers (64%) consume woodchip fuel. There was a concentration of woodchip boilers in the areas of highest deployment namely counties Donegal and Clare. The main heat users were from the hotel, commercial and industrial sectors. Thirteen boilers (34%) were in public sector buildings. There was a wide range of boiler sizes in operation and 15 different manufacturer makes were installed across the region.
While the market is at an early stage of development, the sector is evident across the entire region with market leaders in Donegal, Clare and Galway. There is a varied range of heat users operating wood energy systems from across the public and private sectors. The analysis suggests that the clustering of users and the operation of a robust woodchip fuel supply market supports the deployment of boilers.
Of the surveyed sites, 11 sites (44%) were rated as best practice installations and the remaining 14 sites were rated as well functioning. There was a higher incidence of best practice installations where there was a cluster of users in a defined geographic area. The survey reported few issues with the actual boilers and reported problems tended to relate to the ancillary equipment, connection to the heating system, design and loading of fuel stores, chimney flues and unloading of ash.
Wood energy interest group from Roscommon on a visit to the wood energy boiler at Clare County Council
The identified best practice installations were characterised as those where the users invested appropriate time and resources in the system design, the commissioning process and the continued maintenance of the boiler. Also evident in best practice installations were a high level of user participation in the initial design process and the application of robust contracts for the services being purchased between user and installer/supplier.
The survey highlighted the critical importance of the project design phase and the need to allocate appropriate time and resources to this aspect of project development. Based on the lessons from the surveyed sites, the following are key issues to consider when installing a wood fuel system:
- Sourcing of independent technical advice at the planning and procurement stages
- Use of formal design and build contracts that set out contractual responsibilities between the user and installer/fuel supplier
- Necessity to allocate a project contingency budget
- Appropriate sizing of boilers and the need to provide a back-up solution
- Robust and suitable technical specifications for the design of the boiler house, fuel storage and delivery system
- Need for a comprehensive boiler handover process during boiler commissioning
- Need for on-going management of maintenance and services
The survey established that while the sector is at an early stage of development in the region, value experiences and learning have taken place and these can be built upon to support future market development. The following actions are proposed:
- The provision of detailed industry listings to assist existing and potential users in identifying and selecting service providers.
- Networking between users to allow for exchange of relevant industry information and learning, and assist potential users in identifying existing installations in the region and/or sector. Such networking can be carried out on-line and through specific sectoral and local events.
- Training of local service companies on boiler maintenance to help reduce the high maintenance costs currently encountered by some users. In addition the economic benefits from growth of the wood energy market will only be realised if local enterprises access the new market opportunities.
- Model contracts to facilitate the design and commissioning of installations. The use of model contracts can speed up the rate at which projects can be negotiated and undertaken, and thereby result in time and cost savings for both parties. Another significant advantage is risk avoidance for both user and installer; standardised contracts result in consistent treatment of similar projects across the industry.
The full report is available for download here.
