Biomass replaces oil for heating sawmill kilns
BSW Timber has slashed £700 000 off its annual energy costs by using its waste products as a saw mill processing timber to heat drying kilns and receive payments from the Renewable Heat Incentive. The installation is thought to be the largest biomass hot-water plant in the UK and has two 3 MW boilers, which will reduce CO2 emissions by over 2800 t a year.
The mill produces sawn timber products, much of which is dried in on-site kilns. The kilns were previously heated by oil boilers, and the waste products were sold and removed by road transport.
By transferring heat production to the biomass plant using the waste products as fuel, BSW will offset the consumption of up to a million litres of oil a year and remove 280 lorries from local roads.
The new boiler plant was designed and project managed by renewable consultancy Sustainable Energy, in partnership with the Carbon Trust.
BSW has six sawmills in the UK and one in Latvia.
Dr Gabriel Gallagher, managing director of Sustainable Energy, says, ‘The BSW Timber contract is a fantastic example of how businesses can benefit widely by converting to biomass heating in terms of savings on fuel bills, becoming more environmentally friendly and potential to expand the business and create jobs.
‘The significant environmental benefits from the project at BSW also gained the support of the Carbon Trust and the Forestry Commission.’
