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Biomass Systems with a Three Year Payback!

9th October 2013

It is now possible to get a 34% return on investment for the latest, efficient biomass systems, as some clients of ours in Lincolnshire have found out when switching from an oil heating system to a biomass boiler.

Whilst a payback of just three years seems too good to be true, the secret is in the fuel.  The previous heating system used oil at a cost of around 6p/kWh, the new biomass boiler will burn straw briquettes. These are a waste recovery product processed on site at £10/tonne, bringing the cost down to just 0.3p/kWh.   The system is eligible for the highest RHI tariff of 8.3p/kWh (systems under 199kW) making it one of our top biomass performers for financial return.

For clients who do not have access to their own fuel source, the choice of fuel will depend on system size, type, space and supplier availability, but big savings are still can be achieved over fossil fuels, particularly heating oil, electricity or LPG.

The cost of fossil fuels has increased by 7% each year for the last ten years, whilst the cost of wood pellets, wood chip and logs are comparatively stable. The price of biomass fuel sources vary according to the processing requirements, delivery quantity and moisture content, with wood chip being the cheapest of standard products at 3.1p compared to wood pellets at 4.2p/kWh.

The advantage of being able to process your own fuel is clear, however not all biomass boilers can be adapted to burn different fuel sources.  We install a range of boilers including Schmid and ETA that are well suited to specialist fuels with high calorific value or low ash melting point including straw, miscanthus, agricultural waste along with wood pellets and chip.

For more information on biomass boilers contact our Energy Team on 0845 643 2528.