Archive for January, 2012

ANOTHER New Case Study Online!

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

We’ve just added a 4th new case study to the website.

Lustleigh Estate, a large residential estate on Dartmoor, comprises a main residence, two cottages, office complex and swimming pool with a pool house. They wanted to reduce running costs and CO2 by moving to biomass from oil. This would allow them to utilise their own wood fuel supply from the Estate’s eighty acres of woodland.

They specified a biomass district heating system, which would need to replace five oil boilers. The system would have to heat five separate buildings and a swimming pool from a single boiler and link to a solar thermal array for summer hot water.

Treco supplied and installed a single, top-of-the-range 100kW Guntamatic Powerchip biomass boiler in a district heating scheme, which replaced the five existing oil boilers. The boiler and fuel store were installed in an outbuilding located 100 metres from the main properties. All of the buildings were linked using insulated underground pipe.

In the short term, a reliable wood chip fuel supply was established through membership of the Dartmoor Biomass Cooperative. Longer term, all fuel will be sourced for free from the Estate’s eighty acres of woodland, dried, chipped and stored on site.

The client will achieve a fuel cost saving of 60-80% over heating oil (Source, Biomass Energy Centre) and reduce CO₂ by up to 98% or 44 tonnes compared to heating oil, per annum (Source, Biomass Energy Centre)

http://www.treco.co.uk/case-study.php?UUID=13279315626884/

Tags: Bioenergy, Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, central heating, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Biomass Boiler, Biomass Fuels, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

New Case Study Online!

Monday, January 30th, 2012

We’ve just added a 3rd new case study to the website.

Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, where the Guntamatic Biomass Boiler will allow savings of up 73% on their fuel costs and up 60 07% CO2, compared to the previous electric heating system.

Treco supplied and installed a top-of-the-range, fully automated 100kW Guntamatic Biocom biomass boiler system complete with a 2,000 litre thermal store, and a 7 tonne fuel store. Thermostats allow output to be closely monitored via an ECU and emissions are measured by the lambda probe in the flue. Ash from the step grate falls into a removable container.

To find out more;

http://www.treco.co.uk/case-study.php?UUID=13279315626884/

Tags: Bioenergy, Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, central heating, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Biomass Boiler, Biomass Fuels, Green Energy, Green Politics, Guntamatic, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Treco in the News!

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Treco have been featured in two 1,000 word features, one in December’s issue of Heating and Ventilation Review and one in January’s issue of Heating, Ventilating and Plumbing.

The features explore the large cost and CO₂ savings biomass delivers, when compared to fossil fuels. They also look at the opportunity for installations heating more than a single building with one biomass boiler in a district heating scheme and how social housing providers and housing developers can magnify these cost savings across multiple units of housing stock.

With the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) now launched, eligible biomass boiler owners can now gain payments per kWh of “useful heat” generated from eligible renewable heat installations. The articles discuss how this will create tens of thousands of new renewable heat installations over the next few years and opportunities for heating engineers due to a national shortage of qualified and experienced installers.

http://www.treco.co.uk/multimedia/

Tags: Bioenergy, Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, blog, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Biomass Boiler, Green Energy, Renewable Energy | 1 Comment »

Treco to Exhibit at Energy Now 15 & 16 Feb

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

We’re looking forward to being at the Energy Now Expo in Malvern Showground on 15^th & 16^th Feb. You’ll find us on stand 55 and we will be unveiling our crisp new brand identity, as well as having some of our boilers on the stand and a wealth of information.

The event is targeted at farmers and landowners and our sales team will be on hand to answer any questions about our biomass boilers and how to make the most of the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Here are a few more reasons to visit the show.

Why Visit Energy Now Expo?

Farming is one of the most energy intensive industries in operation today. As these energy costs continue to rise, increasing numbers of farmers are looking for alternative energy sources in order to reduce their bills, as well as their carbon emissions. The event will:

Explain how each of the renewable energy sources work
Demonstrate how and why renewable energy offers an excellent diversification opportunity

· Show how renewable energy can help you save money on power, fuel and heating bills

Detail the financial returns offered by initiatives such as the Feed-In Tariff and the Renewable Heat Incentive
Outline how farmers and landowners can earn extra income by selling excess power back to the grid
Debate these issues with farmers and landowners
Have access to practical workshops on each energy type
Let you hear key people from industry speak about all the opportunities available and how to make them work for you.

We look forward to seeing you there!!!!

http://www.treco.co.uk/newsArticle/Treco+to+Exhibit+at+Energy+Now+15+%2726+16+Feb+/

Tags: Bioenergy, Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, central heating, Green Energy, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Phase 2 Wishlist

Friday, January 20th, 2012

As the Renewable Energy Association (REA) reported before Christmas (8 December), DECC is at a relatively early stage in putting together its proposals for phase 2 of the Renewable Heat Incentive.

The position to date has been that changes would be implemented in October 2012, but that’s looking increasingly unlikely. DECC hopes to make a statement on revised timing in the coming weeks.

REA have had a great many discussions with DECC since the RHI decision document was published last March. In order to make sure none of these drop off the radar, they have compiled a ‘wish list’ which they will be getting further industry input over the coming weeks.

Watch this space!!!

http://www.treco.co.uk/newsArticle/Renewable+Heat+Incentive+%2728RHI%2729+Phase+2+Wishlist/

Tags: Bioenergy, Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, central heating, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Biomass Boiler, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Domestic Installations Update from REA

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

One of the highest profile outstanding issues is the inclusion of individual domestic installations. Although DECC has emphasised (and Greg Barker has reinforced in Parliament) they remain committed to long-term support of domestic, it is equally clear that no decisions have been made as to how this will be done, or on what scale.

Until ministers have decided what they are trying to achieve – renewables, carbon savings and/or something else – and how much deployment would deliver that, it’s almost impossible to have a discussion as to how the policy should be designed. That means the domestic policy as it stands is effectively a blank sheet of paper. No one should assume that phase 1 RHI (let alone the 2010 consultation) provides any sort of guide as to what will eventually emerge.

One key area that may change will be tariff duration. It seems very unlikely that 20 year tariffs will be offered – 10 or even 5 years are far more likely. I have heard DECC officials raise this with stakeholders and they have generally received a positive response, although it would raise further questions as to how tariffs should be calculated.

Other areas of uncertainty include interaction with the green deal, energy efficiency requirements and whether there should be additional support for community-scale projects.

http://www.treco.co.uk/newsArticle/Renewable+Heat+Incentive+%2728RHI%2729+Domestic+Installations+Update+from+REA+/

Tags: Bioenergy, Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, central heating, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Biomass Boiler, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Green Deal Consultation – Closing Date 18th January

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

DECC launched its Green Deal consultation on 23^rd November, a month later than originally planned, with a closing date of 18^th January 2012.

The consultation also covers the proposed new Energy Company Obligation (ECO) which is due to replace CERT and CESP when they expire in 2012; £1.3 billion will be used to subsidise measures to address fuel poverty and less cost-effective measures such as solid wall insulation.

In essence the Green Deal is a financing mechanism, whereby measures that can meet a ‘Golden Rule’ are financed through a loan that is repaid through the customer’s electricity bill. The principle behind the golden rule is that the energy savings should be greater than the loan repayments, however this cannot be guaranteed due to consumer behaviour, increases to energy prices, etc.

Eligible measures are those covered by SAP so include microgeneration technologies. In principle microgeneration can therefore access Green Deal finance if it meets the golden rule, however the consultation provides no details on whether income received under the FITs or RHI schemes would count.

This is therefore a major concern for renewable microgeneration and will form the centre-piece of the REA’s response. The REA have supported moves by the Micropower Council to get explicit support for renewables under the Green Deal so are disappointed by its absence, in particular since DECC is now proposing to link future PV FIT tariffs to the achievement of demanding energy efficiency standards.

The 237 page consultation is available on the DECC website, accompanied by a 298 page draft Impact Assessment and various draft statutory instruments.

http://www.treco.co.uk/newsArticle/Green+Deal+Consultation+%2796+Closing+Date+18th+January/

Tags: Bioenergy, Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, central heating, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy, treco
Posted in Biomass, Biomass Boiler, Green Energy, Renewable Energy | No Comments »

Progress Update for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme (RHPP)

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

The RHPP was launched by DECC on 1^st August 2011 and is being managed by the Energy Saving Trust. It runs until 31^st March 2012 and provides a one-off up to £950 payment to home owners for the installation of biomass boilers.

The scheme has a total budget of £15m, with a review point after £10m has been allocated. To provide an indication of demand, EST is publishing a weekly update on its website.

The most recent figures (2^nd January) show that since 1^st August 2011, 3,954 vouchers totalling £3.0m had been issued, with biomass boilers representing 15% of total vouchers.

EST also report that 1,603 vouchers have been redeemed to date, though no breakdown is given between technologies. The current rate of demand for vouchers is insufficient to achieve DECC’s budget, bearing in mind that systems must be installed in time for vouchers to be claimed by 31^st March 2012 latest.

http://www.treco.co.uk/newsArticle/Progress+Update+for+the+Renewable+Heat+Premium+Payment+scheme+%2728RHPP%2729/

Tags: Biomass Boiler, biomass boilers, central heating, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Biomass Boiler, Green Energy, Renewable Energy | 5 Comments »

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) – Grant Repayment – Guidance Note

Monday, January 16th, 2012

This Guidance note is intended for owners of transitional biomass boiler installations who wish to apply for support under the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) but have received a grant towards the cost of purchasing and/or installing their renewable heat installation.

The steps you need to follow to repay the grant, and the evidence that will need to be provided to Ofgem, are explained below.

General information

If you are a transitional installation and you have received a grant from public funds for the costs of purchasing and installing your biomass boiler, you will need to repay the grant to the grant-making body before you can be eligible for the scheme.

A transitional installation is an installation that was installed and first commissioned between the 15th June 2009 and the date the Regulations came into force (28th November 2011). For the further information about transitional installations and what OFGEM consider to be a grant for the purposes of the scheme, please see Chapter Four, Volume One of the RHI Guidance document1;

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/e-serve/RHI/Documents1/RHI_Guidance_Document_Vol_One.pdf

Please note that if you are unable to repay the grant, for whatever reason, you will not be eligible for support under the RHI.

Please note that for any biomass boiler installation that was commissioned after the 28th November 2011 (the date the RHI Regulations came into force) and for which a grant was received towards the costs of purchasing and/or installing the installation, it is not possible to repay the grant and claim the RHI.

If you have received a grant offer letter (but the grant has not yet been paid), OFGEM will require evidence from the grant-making body that the grant offer has been rejected and no monies will be paid for the cost of purchasing/installing the renewable heat installation. We would expect applicants to take a similar approach and provide similar evidence as that for the repayment of grants.

Grant Repayment

This section describes the steps that need to be taken, and the evidence to be provided, for Ofgem to be satisfied that a transitional installation that has received a grant is eligible for the RHI.

1. Contact the grant-making body and inform them that you wish to repay the grant. (In some cases the original grant-making body may no longer exist. Where the responsibilities for the grant programme have been passed onto another body, you should contact this other body. The steps below and evidence required will remain the same. E.g. if you wish to repay a grant received under the Bioenergy Capital Grant Scheme or the Low Carbon Building Programme I & II you should contact the Department of Energy and Climate Change, not the original grant-making body).

2. Repay the grant according to the directions of the grant-making body.

3. Receive a document from the grant-making body confirming that the grant has been repaid. We will expect this to normally take the form of a letter on headed paper signed by an appropriate employee of the grant-making body confirming that the grant has been repaid. The following information will need to be included:

a. The name of the organisation that has repaid the grant

b. The name of the grant

c. The repayment amount

d. The date of effective repayment

e. The grant reference number (where applicable)

f. The repayment reference number (where applicable)

4. Submit this confirmation document to Ofgem as part of your application for accreditation.

Ofgem will consider this information alongside the other information provided as part of your application for accreditation to the scheme. Please note that Ofgem may contact the grant-making body to confirm that the grant has in fact been repaid.

Contact OFGEM

For any other questions regarding this Guidance note, or for further information about the scheme, please contact the RHI enquiries team on 0845 200 2122, or via email at RHI.Enquiry@Ofgem.gov.uk.

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/e-serve/RHI/howtoapply/Documents1/Grant%20Repayment%20Guidance%20Note.pdf

http://www.treco.co.uk/newsArticle/Renewable+Heat+Incentive+%2728RHI%2729+-+Grant+Repayment+-+Guidance+Note/

Tags: biomass boilers, central heating, Green Energy, Green Politics, Renewable Energy, Renewable Heat Incentive, treco
Posted in Biomass, Green Politics, Renewable Energy | 1 Comment »

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Accreditation Meter Spreadsheet Available

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

A spreadsheet to be completed by applicants to the RHI who have more than 10 meters associated with their RHI biomass boiler installation has been made available online by OFGEM.

To download the RHI Meter Spreadsheet;

http://www.treco.co.uk/newsArticle/Renewable+Heat+Incentive+%2728RHI%2729+Accreditation+Meter+Spreadsheet+Available/