Heating with Biomass in Upper Austria

Christine hlinger

O Energiesparverband/koenergie-Cluster
christine.oehlinger@esv.or.at
www.oec-en.at,
www.esv-en.at, www.wsed.at
Renewable energy sources in
Upper Austria

Share of renewable energy: 35 % of total primary energy demand

(16 % biomass, 14 % hydro,
5 % solar & other renewables)

Avoided imports of fossil fuels: >1 billion Euro per year

Biomass heating: 50,000 automatic systems installed:
26,000 pellets, 24,000 wood chips,
330 biomass district heating plants
By 2030, all electricity and space heating will come from renewables!
reduction of heat demand by 39 %
reduction of electricity demand by 0.5 %/year
minus 65 % CO2 emissions
Motivation for 100 % renewable
targets

climate protection:
increasing temperatures
more natural disasters

increasing costs:
social problems ("energy poverty")
negative impact on the competitiveness of companies, especially
price fluctuations
loss of purchasing power

import dependency from geopolitically unstable regions

innovation and employment ("green jobs")

economic perspectives for the farming/forestry sector

 Energy production and consumption
in Upper Austria

coal
23.8% private
households
biomass transportation
21%
15,9% 29%
natural gas
19.2% renewable services
energy 7%
31.8% hydro power iron/steel/
other
11,1% chemical
production
oil industries industries
other renewables
25,2% 26% 17%
4,8%

Gross domestic energy consumption by energy source Final energy consumption by sectors
Upper Austria 2014 Upper Austria
 Development energy consumption and GDP
Upper Austria 2005 - 2014
"De-coupling of energy consumption and economic growth"

132%
125
Index 2005 = 100%

98%
100

75%
75
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

GDP total final energy consumption specific energy consumption

(final energy/GDP)
Development of energy sources
Upper Austria 2005 - 2014
Biomass heating - why and how?

a sustainable and carbon-neutral fuel

especially suitable for heating of buildings
modern heating systems are fully automated with ultra-low emissions
ensures energy independence
supports the local forest economy
if: sustainable forestry; heat demands continue to decrease ("better
buildings"); effective fuel production and distribution; only installations with
highest efficiencies & lowest emissions, for electricity production, only high-
efficiency CHP
Upper Austria has pioneered biomass heating in the last two decades and
achieved global leadership in small-scale systems.
27 % of all biomass boilers installed in the EU are manufactured by
companies from Upper Austria
Economic impact of biomass heating in
Upper Austria

Total employment in biomass heating: 4,500 jobs

Annual revenue of biomass boiler/ stove industry

in Upper Austria (production, sales, installation): 530 million Euro

Annual investments in new biomass heating systems: 110 million Euro

Annual sales of biomass heating fuels: 190 million Euro

CO2 emissions avoided 1.7 million tons

In Upper Austria, the most important
ways to heat with biomass are:

modern biomass stoves, mostly in low-energy homes and as auxiliary

heating in homes heated by oil/gas

automatic wood pellet heating systems, mostly in single-family homes

with bulk delivery

automatic wood chip heating systems for commercial and public

buildings

low-emissions firewood boilers, mainly in rural areas

district heating systems supplied by biomass thermal plants

large-scale combined heat and power plants supplied by biomass

 Biomass heating technologies

technology modern automatic modern automatic district combined

stoves pellet firewood wood chip heating heat &
heating boilers boilers power
stations
fuel

typical install. 4-8 kW 5-15 kW 20-40 kW 50-150 kW 100 kW-3 >1 MWel
capacity MW > 10 MWth
users, high efficie- single- farm public & all buildings all buildings
customers ncy homes, family buildings commercial
auxil. heating homes buildings
fuel supply retailers bulk usually often local cooperative farmers &
(pellets), delivery by from own farmers- members & sawmills &
farmers tank trucks forest forest form other
(firewood) owners sawmills channels
 Biomass heating in Upper Austria
clean, efficient, fully automated

3000

2500
capacity in MW

2000

1500

1000

500

0
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14

< 100 kW 100 kW - 1 MW > 1 MW

 Heating in Upper Austria
% of all dwellings

Biomass
Biomass
(incl. biomass district heating)

Heating oil

Natural gas

District heating
District heating
(fossil fuels, mostly CHP)

Heat pumps

Electricity

Coal

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

 Overcoming the chicken or the egg problem
Building up a local market for automatic pellet heating
The pellet supply chain
pellets meeting strict fuel quality standards (production & handling)
distributors for bulk delivery (fully-pressurized trucks & skills to handle pellets

The equipment
well-functioning pellet boilers, stringent emission standards
high consumer convenience
if not: pellet boiler are likely to remain a niche market
technicians trained to install and service the equipment

The customers
individual homes & larger buildings (to avoid overly-long payback for bulk
delivery systems)

Information and awareness for market actors and stakeholders

a new approach to heating needs information, awareness & training
for potential pellet producers & distributors, heating companies, installers, public
administration & permitting agencies & potential customers
Carrots, sticks and tambourines
Upper Austria's sustainable energy strategy
3 Pillars

Regulatory Financial Information

measures measures activities

"sticks" "carrots" "tambourines"

 Upper Austria's sustainable energy strategy
example biomass heating
"sticks" "carrots" "tambourines"
Regulatory measures Financial measures Information & training
Emission & efficiency Investment grant Energy advice
standards programs Training programs
Fuel requirements Renewable heating Publications,
Renewable heating as a program campaigns &
mandate requirement competitions
Minimum Contracting program Local energy action
requirements Regional R & D plans
heating & cooling program, pilot OEC - sustainable
projects energy business
network

stimulate demand
Policy Packages
support supply
Main policy instruments for biomass heating

Driving the market through standards

Financial incentives

Renewable heating mandates/obligations

Advice, information and awareness campaigns

Education & training

Supporting biomass heating manufacturers

 Driving the market through standards

Fuel
early standardisation of pellet fuels: a important reason for Austria's
pionieering role
highly standardised fuel allows for high efficiency and low emission
combustion technologies were developed based on and optimised for
the standardised fuel
warranty of the boilers only if standardised pellets are used
European pellet fuel standard

Equipment standards (Upper Austria)

efficiency and emission standards
regularly up-dated to drive innovation
 Driving the market through standards:
Fuels & Equipment

Example: Emissions & efficiency of biomass boilers: results from 1,000+ boiler tests

Efficiency factor of CO emissions of

tested biomass boilers tested biomass boilers

Source: FJ-BLT Wieselburg; Bioenergy 2020+

 Clean and fully-automatic biomass heating
Comprehensive market development within the OEC:

Jointly developing products & services (R & D support programme)

Jointly developing home markets:

- campaigns to strengthen core markets (e.g. home heating)
- analysis & strategies for less developed market segments
- training across the value chain (manufacturers, installers, users, others)

Joint internationalisation
- combination of policy & market know-how and leading companies
- market exploration tours & tradeshows & delegations & technical
publications for target markets

27 % of all automatic biomass boilers sold in Europe

are manufactured by companies from Upper Austria!
Communication - increasing awareness & skills
end consumers, e.g.:
- costs (higher investment costs, lower fuel costs, public support)
- where to install (storage), how to operate
- fuel supply (availability, price stability)

installers, building professionals, e.g.

- technical know-how to plan & install &
service, storage solutions

authorities, stakeholders, media,

authorities e.g.
- sustainability of biomass
- costs
How to get a biomass heating market
started

find pilot area with first customers and establish supply chain

communicate the benefits (not "just" climate protection)

allow for a learning curve across the value chain (demonstration

programmes & pellets campaigns & training)

identify most promising markets

understand progress & communicate success & take corrective action

(market intelligence)

take a longer term perspective

Report & video
available at

www.oec-en.at

also available in Spanish

 European Pellet Conference: 1-2 March 2017
The world's largest annual pellet-related conference

Today's markets and tomorrow's technologies

Biomass next - conference for young researchers
B2B-Meetings
Site-visits
Trade show: 100+ biomass-related exhibitors
held in Wels/Austria

Get involved:
Call for Papers & Speakers
Deadline: 10 October 2016
www.wsed.at
Technical aspects of biomass heating
 Pellets in Austria
Pellets in Austria have a long tradition
second largest per capita consumption in Europe (~100 kg/capita)
boiler companies are leading in export
domestic consumption of pellets in Austria is about 850,000 tons
annual production: 1 mio tons (2015)
jobs (Austria, 2013):
> 5,000 jobs biomass boiler industry, 12,700 jobs fuel production
Market development (Austria, 05/2015):
additional 6,200 households with pellets heating in 2014,
in total more than 118,000 households with pellets heating
Annual pellet consumption for heating
(per capita, 2015)

Source: www.propellets.at
 Cost comparision fuels [Cent/kWh]

Electricity 20.56

Heating oil 5.93

Natural gas 8.36

Pellets 4.54

Log wood 4.46

Wood chips 3.66

0 5 10 15 20 25

Calculation of prices for 6 t pellets, 15,000 kWh natural gas, 1,000 l heating oil, 3,500 electricity, incl. VAT and delivery
Reference value is the heating value of the fuels, COP of the heating system not taken into account

Sources: proPellets Austria, e-Control, IWO, AK O

Price development of fuels average annual prices

Source: www.propellets.at
 Pellets production in Austria
Pellets are typically produced from untreated wood without any
chemical binders using high pressure.

Most production plants are located next to large saw mills.

There are about 39 pellet production plants in Austria achieving a

production capacity of more than 1.4 mio tons annually.

Wet saw mill residues are dryed and afterwards using high pressure
pressed through a pellet press.

Pellets are than cooled, packed and stored for delivery.

Pellets production in Austria

Source: www.propellets.at
 Energy balance

primary energy needed for pellet production and transport: 18.5 % of

the energy content of pellets

4,900

614
214 47

Source: proPellets Austria

 Austrian pellet quality and standards
Austrian pellet fuel standard since 1998 (NORM M 7135) -
a main reason for Austrias pionieering role!
highly standardised fuel allows for high efficiency and low emission
combustion technologies were developed based on and optimised for
the standardised fuel
warranty of the boilers only if standardised pellets are used

Austrian pellet fuel standards sets technical fuel requirements for:

- pellets - requirements and testing (NORM M 7135)
- quality control in transport & storage (NORM M 7136)
- storage at the consumers (NORM M 7137)
 The new standard: EN ISO 17225-2

new world-wide standard for wood pellets (since 09/2014)

specification of quality criteria for wood pellets
3 different quality categories: A1, A2, B
A1: premium quality for mainly smaller installations
A2: mainly for larger installations in hotels, apartments, companies
B: mainly for large installations
 EN ISO 17225-2

Quality characteristics Requirements class A1 | A2 | B

Diameter 6 +/- 1 mm
Length 3.1540 mm
> 16.5 MJ/kg
Calorific value
4.6 kWh/kg
Ash content 0.7% | 1.2% | 2.0%
Water content 10%
Bulk density > 600 kg/m3
Fines F1.0: 1.0%
No chemical adhesive

Source: EN ISO 17225-2, www.pelletsverband.at

 EN ISO 17225-2

Source: EN ISO 17225-2, www.pelletsverband.at

 Certification ENplus

certification of the whole supply chain, from the production to storage to

distribution to the end user
pellets are only to be sold as ENplus pellets, if the whole chain,
regardless to the number of actors, is certified
 Sustainability of Bioenergy
Increasing national regulations

Increasing number of national sustainability

criteria
(already adopted or under discussion): risk of
multiple national requirements, creating barriers to
biomass trade, distorting the biomass market,
increase costs for market operators

Multiple industry-led sustainability schemes

(Initiative Wood Pellet Buyers, Vattenfal-Berlin
agreement, EN plus, etc.)

Source: Andreas Pilzecker, European Commission

 Standardisation wood chips
New European and Austrian quality standards

EN ISO 17225-1 NORM C 4005

European standard based on EN/ISO

for wooden biomass for wood chips only
for all applications for installations > 500 kW only
complex and detailed simplified categories
analysis of ash content foreseen typical values for ash content
 Fuel selection - pellets or wood chips?

Criteria Wood pellets? Wood chips?

installed capacity smaller heating systems (< 100 kW), larger heating systems (> 100 kW),
& fuel demand lower fuel demand higher fuel demand
space limited availability of storage capacity ample storage capacity
requirement
delivery frequent delivery is a sensitive issue frequent fuel delivery is not a
(residental area, etc.) problem
staff no staff for operations and staff for operations and maintenance
maintenance
fuel highly standardized fuel with stable different levels of quality are
quality is desired acceptable
fuel supply interest in working with commercial interest in buying local availability
fuel suppliers of local fuel suppliers, local economic
benefit from using wood chips
wood resource end-user does not own wood end-user owns wood resources
ownership resources (e.g. forest lands)

fuel costs ~ 220 /t ~ 15-25 /srm

 Typical pellet / wood chips heating solutions

Characteristics Pellet Wood chips

building type residential home school building
capacity 5-15 kW 130 kW
system location basement basement
characteristic fully automatic central heating system
hydronic (water-based heat distribution)
fuel delivery bulk delivery by pressurized delivery by local farmers,3-4
truck once/year times/year
fuel demand 3-6 tons 50 tons
storage capacity ~ 5 m; at minimum equal to 4 x 4 meters (converted
annual pellet demand former storage room)
fuel supply automatic pellet feed from automatic wood chip supply
storage to boiler from storage to boiler
ash removal 2-4 times/a every 2 weeks
 Life cycle cost split

investment costs: 15,000-20,000 investment costs: 60,00075,000

fuel costs: 800 /a, 35 delivery fee fuel costs: 4,400 /a (local farmers)
maintenance costs: 350 - 500 /a maintenance costs: 2,000

calculated for 20 years, 6% annual financing costs,

excluding investment grant
 New very low energy buildings

Characteristics:
Passive homes or low energy homes
very low heat demand, but normal hot water consumption

Examples for a typical pellet solution:

Pellet stoves:
additional heating or for very low heating demand

Pellet stoves with hot water production:

central heating system with pellet stove

Pellet compact systems:

buffer storage and pellet boiler combined
Typical pellet solution in a new low energy home (1)
private home built to according to passive building standards
(built 2007, heated area: 246 m| 2,648 ft)
automatic pellet heating system (floor heating)
investment cost: 14,000 Euro | 18,000 US$, 18% incentive
installed capacity: 2-8 kW
pellet storage: 5 m | 177 ft, capacity: 2.5 tons (basement)
annual pellet consumption: 0.85 tons
annual fuel costs: 200 Euro | 260 US$
bulk delivery every second/third year by a local pellet distributor
ash removal: twice per year
CO2 avoided: 0.85 tons per year
Typical pellet solution in a new low energy home (2)
new low energy home (heated surface area: 75 m | 807 ft, 2009)
fully automatic, wall-mounted, pellet heating system (floor heating)
investment costs: 10,000 Euro | 13,000 US$, 25% incentive
installed capacity: 27 kW (modulating)
pellet storage: 2 m | 71 ft
annual pellet consumption: 0.9 tons
annual fuel costs: 190 Euro | 245 US$
pellet delivery: twice per year, bulk delivery by a local pellet distributor
CO2 avoided: 0.9 tons per year
 Room heaters

Firewood stove Pellet stove Masonry heater

www.heinzaberle.at www.rika.at www.kachelofenverband.at

081467vt
ESV-Design
 Room heaters with hot water production

Type Capacity in kW Characteristics

Masonry heater with integrated 3-20 with water circulation or
heat exchangers cirulating hot air
Pellet stove with integrated heat 10 with water circulation
exchanger

Masonry heater with Pellets stove with www.windhager.at

Integrated heat exchanger integrated heat exchanger
www.hafnertec.at www.calimax.at

081467vt
ESV-Design
 Boilers central heating
Type Capacity Characteristics
[kW]
Firewood boiler 10 up to 1 m firewood length, with or without forced
draught (fan), accumulator tank required
Wood chip 10 fully automatic operation, staged combustion
boiler accumulator tank recommended

Pellet boiler 3 fully automatic operation, staged combustion

 Boiler sizing calculation of heat load

Rule of thumb for calculating the heat load:

heating load [kW] = heating demand [kWh] / full load hours
(for Upper Austria: 1,400 1,800 h)

Example 1:
30,000 l heating oil, ~ 300,000 kWh heating demand
heating load = 300,000 / 1,800 = 167 kW
(not taking into account the COP of the heating system)

Example 2:
80,000 m I natural gas, ~ 800,000 kWh heating demand
heating load = 800,000 / 1,800 = 444 kW
(not taking into account the COP of the heating system)

in Upper Austria, calculation for installations > 6 kW required

before exchanging the boiler, consider building retrofitt

Wood pellet heating feeding systems for storage rooms

transport auger vacuum suction system

Wood pellet heating feeding systems for tanks

transport auger vacuum suction system

 Pellet fuel storage

Storage room
next/close to the boiler
inside the building

Textile or steel tanks

inside or outside of the building

Storage integrated in heating containers

outside the building

Underground tanks
outside the building

Delivery by tank truck

 Pellet heating container solutions

pre-assembled container which includes boiler and storage system

outside; if no suitable solution for boiler & storage inside the building
respective groundwork, connection pipes (low and return), electricity
connection, rainwater drain
different solutions available for pellet/wood chip heating systems,
including solar thermal systems, accumulator tank, remote control
 Example: Sizing of a pellet storage
Rule of thumb:
1 kW heating load = 0.9 m storage room
(including head space) and 0.6 m (400 kg) Pellets
approx. 5 m for 12 kW heating load
Example:
- fuel demand: heating load 60 kW = 24,000 kg pellet/a
- storage volume:
60 kW heating load x 0.9 m3 = 54 m3 storage volume
- storage surface:
54 m3 : 2.5 m (height) = 22 m2 storage surface
- recommended size:
(annual filling) 3 x 7.5 m = 22.5 m2 storage surface
- dumping height:
1.7 m = 38 m3 volume useable = 25,000 kg pellet
Alternative:
filling 3x/a: 2.5 x 3 m = 7.5 m2 storage surface
dumping height:
1.7 m = 13 m3 volume useable = 25,500 kg pellets
Wood chips storage possibilities
 Example: Sizing of a wood chip storage

Example 1 Example 2
boiler heating load 75 kW 300 kW
annual energy demand 187,500 kWh 750,000 kWh
annual fuel demand 203 m / 50,676 kg 811 m / 202,703 kg

Examples for storage facility dimensions

weekly filling 3 x 3 x 2 meters 5 x 5 x 2.75 meters
annual filling 6 x 6 x 6 meters 11 x 15 x 5 meters
for: 2,000 h full load, 85 % boiler efficiency
 Estimating fuel demand rule of thumb

Annual fuel demand per kW For comparison

2 loose m wood chips (hardwood) 2 kg pellets ~ 1 liter oil
2.5 loose m wood chips (softwood) 1 m pellets ~ 320 liter oil
0.6 m pellets 1,000 kg pellets ~ 1.5 m
400 kg pellets

rule of thumb - wood chips: 2.5 m storage per kW heating load

rule of thumb - pellets: 0.9 m storage per kW heating load

Example: heating load 100 kW

annual fuel demand: 60 m / 40 t pellets
200 loose m wood chips (hardwood)
250 loose m wood chips (softwood)
 Accumulator tank (Heat storage)
Why & when?
recommended for wood chip and pellet boilers
required for firewood boilers
great capacity fluctuations (part load operation)
integration of different systems (esp. hot water production in summer)
allow the boiler to operate at nominal load and to avoid frequent ignition
and shut-down.
 Accumulator tank (Heat storage)

The sizing of the tank is influenced by factors such as:

- the nominal capacity - the type of fuel used
- the size of the boiler - the space available
 Integration of solar thermal
Why & how?
biomass boiler can be shut down in summer months (saves fuel, less part
time operation, longer lifetime of the heating system)
ideally the integration is taken into account when planning the system
low temperature operation of the solar thermal collector (little temperature
difference between outside air and collector temperature)
 Multi-boiler cascade system
Why & how?
staged boiler system
boilers work most efficiently at nominal power, however, due to seasonal
temperature differences, heat demand differs throughout the year
often it is not cost-effective to size the boiler for peak demand
(larger buildings)
cascade systems consist of two or more biomass boilers
when heating or domestic hot water is required, one boiler will start up
and operate at its most efficient level. When additional capacity is
required, additional boilers are brought online at maximum efficiency until
all boilers in the cascade system are operating
the system always operates in its most efficient mode
cascade systems provide increased operational safety and can
accommodate building extensions more cost-effectively
existing fossil-fuel boilers can be included (back-up or peak demand)
 Ash

Amount of ash pellets: about 0.3% of the fuel (dry substance)

Amount of ash wood chips: about 0.5% of the fuel (dry substance)

Example 1 pellets:
annual fuel consumption 70,000 heating oil = 700,000 kWh
= about 155,000 kg pellets
amount of ash about 470 kg (490 l)

Example 2 wood chips:

annual fuel consumption 12,000 m natural gas = 120,000 kWh
= about 34,000 kg wood chips (no bark)
amount of ash about 170 kg (180 l)

ash disposal automatically (screw auger), ash very often stored in

containers and transported by truck
 Legal requirements for small scale biomass heating
systems in Upper Austria (1)

Requirements for biomass automatic heating systems (up to 400 kW):

Emission limits (mg/MJ)

wood pellet wood pellet
stoves central heating
CO 500* 250*
NOx 100 100
VOC 30 20
Dust 25 20

* the limit can be exceeded up to 50% in part load operation (30% of heat
capacity)
 Legal requirements in Upper Austria (2)
Flue gas losses for automatic biomass heating systems must not exceed 19%.

Minimum efficiency levels (COP)*

installed capacity efficiency (%)
10 kW 80
> 10 200 kW 80 - 90
> 200 kW 90
* central heating systems, automatically operated

Regular inspection of heating systems

all heating systems have to be checked annually for safety
systems larger than 15 kW must also be checked for emissions and flue
gas losses every third year (larger than 50 kW every second year)
older installations (>20 kW) have to be checked once when they have
been installed for more than 15 years ago
 Fire safety

fire safety is a key requirement for any heating system

standards to be met by the building and by the boiler technology
requirements are stricter for larger systems
all boilers must have safety features to prevent burn-back
(fire dampers - rotary valves)
walls, ceilings and floors of the storage room & the boiler fire-resistant
depending on the specific heating system, other criteria have to be met

EI90: fire resistance class 90 (meaning a fire resistance rating of 90

minutes); e.g. walls made of bricks (15 cm) or concrete wall (10 cm)
the door to the storage room must be a fire-stop door (EI30)
BBD: burn-back safety device
TCS: temperature control device in the fuel storage
MFE: manually-operated fire extinguisher
 Example 1: Fire safety requirements

Fire safety requirements for an automatic pellet heating system

(up to 150 kW), with a textile storage system and a storage
capacity >15 m

Source: TRVB H 118

 Example 2: Fire safety requirements

Fire safety requirements for an automatic wood chip heating

system (up to 400 kW), with an attached storage (fuel storage
capacity 50 - 200 m)

Source: TRVB H 118

 "Biomass Heat Contracting"

heat price
Owner of the
Contractor = Investor
building
heat supply

planning
energy supply contract
financing
construction renting boiler room
operation
maintenance
fuel supply
 Business model: Biomass Heat Contracting

What is it?
an energy service company (an ESCO) invests in and operates a
biomass installation located on the premises of a company or public
organisation and sells the heat to the owners/users of the building at an
agreed price
investment is paid back over contract period

Why?
high upfront costs - owner can not/does not want to invest
building owners do not want to be bothered with fuel purchase and boiler
maintenance
ESCOs are specialists in purchasing and handling the biomass fuel and
ensure that the plant is running at optimal efficiency
Upper Austrian support programme "ECP"
 The Upper Austrian Energy Contracting Programme (1)

programme started in 1998

supports energy efficiency contracting ("Einspar-Contracting") and
renewable energy supply contracting ("Anlagen-Contracting")
clients can be companies, institutions or municipalities
the programme combines:
- comprehensive promotion activities (awareness raising, training,
events, publications, advice to both ESCOs and clients on their
specific projects)
- a subsidy (up to 20 % for energy efficiency and up to 13.5 % for
renewable supply contracting), support for contract periods of max.
10 years, supported investments: 50,000 - 500,000 Euro
 The Upper Austrian Energy Contracting Programme (2)

more than 130 projects realised

investment triggered: 45 million Euro
the first years were challenging and the programme started very slowly
15 ESCOS are listed on ESV website and in total more than 30 ESCOs
are established which offer services in Upper Austria
contracting has found its place in the portfolio of sustainable energy
actions in Upper Austria
 Results & conclusions

Using a well-targeted approach, O.. Energiesparverband established a

functioning energy contracting market in Upper Austria
crucial points for contracting market development are:
- "in-house know-how" on contracting
- "explain, explain, explain": the contracting concept and its the concrete
implementation need significant and continuous efforts in explanation
- providing targeted advice at all project stages
- the number of ESCOs is the largest bottle-neck in the market development
- taking a quality approach: quality approach was also very beneficial for the
ESCOs and helped to ensure high quality of their services
 Business model: Biomass district heating

What is it?
cooperatives of farmers that own forest land, build and operate small-
scale biomass district heating systems which typically supply village
centers (e.g. the local government buildings, schools, businesses and
housing) with heating
farmers become successful heat entrepreneurs
cooperatives typically have around 10 members (local farmers,
municipality or local business owners)
about 70% of the fuel comes from the cooperative members own forests

Why?
specific grant programme covers 40% of the investment costs
local added value, additional income for farmers
environmental benefits
 Biomass district heating

typical capacity: ~ 800 kW

components: biomass boiler(s), a hydraulic control system with
substations at the customer sites, and the heat distribution grid
Thank you very much for your attention!

Christine hlinger
O Energiesparverband

Landstrae 45, 4020 Linz

T: 0732-7720-14380, F: - 14383
office@esv.or.at, www.energiesparverband.at