Latest News
The South West Wood Shed is now online-publicising and displaying all of the region's woodfuel events, courses and open days.
Go to http://www.southwestwoodshed.co.uk for further information and to book online. All events can also be found through Regen SW's own events page.
SOUTH WEST BIOHEAT PROGRAMME
The South West Bioheat Programme aims to stimulate the bioheat industry through increasing the number of systems on the ground, supporting fuel suppliers, and providing recognised training programmes across the region. In a little over six months we have been able to attract the interest of 30 large heat users, and conduct detailed feasibility studies for over 50MW of new capacity. We have also begun to build capacity in the forestry sector to supply fuel to an expanded market. The programme is already attracting national interest, with active collaboration from The Carbon Trust, Natural England, The Forestry Commission and DEFRA. The programme is funded with £650,000 from the South West RDA and £10,000 from the Forestry Commission
The activities of the programme include:
Demand creation
The programme aims to increase the number of systems in development fourfold in the south west by 32MW. Selected projects will be individually championed and support includes site identification, pre-feasibility studies, grant applications, planning liaison, and fuel supplier link-up. 30 new projects are in development, ranging from 150kW to 10MW, and include everything from housing developments and council offices to creameries and plant nurseries. The demand creation contract has been awarded to a partnership of the Centre for Sustainable Energy and Black & Veatch.
Fuel supply
The Woodfuel Support Contract has been awarded to Forest Fuels Ltd.
Forest Fuels Ltd will deliver the following activities from now until March 2008:
- Five woodfuel information events across the region - starting in late September
- Four Ignite courses run through two land-based colleges - starting in November
- Intensive business support to twenty new, or existing, woodfuel companies - delivered throughout the contract period
- Production of five detailed guidance documents around woodfuel production, processing, storage, transport and quality - available for first information event
To find further information about bioheat events click here.
Training
In addition to delivering training for woodfuel companies and the BPEC biomass course for heating installers, the South West Bioheat Programme has a new training course designed specifically for site assessors. This two-day course provides attendees with the skills to investigate biomass systems and assess the technical and financial viability for each site.
Contacts
For further information on the South West Bioheat Programme contact:
Anna Halcro-Johnston (programme manager) on 01392 474327 or use the Contact Form on this website.
