RASLRES project: wood energy support to 4 pilot projects

Regional Approaches to Stimulating Local Renewable Energy Solutions

RASLRES is an international partnership which includes Western Development Commission – Ireland; Action Renewables - Northern Ireland, UK; Environmental Research Institute, North Highland College - Scotland; Municipality of Norsjö – Sweden; Oceanrainforest Ltd – Faroe Islands and VTT, Technical Research Centre – Finland.

Teagasc is a member of the Regional Wood Energy Advisory Group. This Group acts as an advisory group to the project for its duration until 2012. Its members include: Teagasc, Sustainable Energy Ireland, Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Clare Local Development, Irish Farmers Association, Galway City Council, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Sligo Institute of Technology, Donegal County Council, Udarás na Gaelteachta and Irish Bioenergy Association.

During 2010 and 2011 RASLRES will roll-out a range of advisory and support services to the wood energy sector in the Western Region with a budget of €1 million. This will focus on the development of 4 pilot projects to:

Establish sustainable local loops of wood energy supply and demand via new (or existing) wood energy boilers.
Develop local wood fuel supply from forestry.
Offer best practice approaches to support industry development.
Help build critical mass and scale in the wood energy sector of the region.
Support investment plans and help secure project finance.

The selection of the pilot projects will be based upon the development of a heat market profile and a wood fuel resource assessment thereby identifying ‘hot spots’ of potential wood energy activity. This work is being undertaken over January to April 2010.

The 4 selected pilot projects will secure tailored expert support to help develop them into commercially operational investments in terms of renewable heating schemes and or fuel supply chains. This support is provided free of charge and can include technical, business and financing assistance.

Who can participate in the pilot projects?

The project is relevant to all players in the wood energy sector including:

energy users in the public and private sectors where it may be feasible to use wood fuel heating systems in planned or existing buildings
farmers, forest owners and other potential fuel producers seeking to enter the wood fuel market
forestry contractors and others involved in planting, harvesting and processing of wood
haulage companies and others involved in delivery and supply of wood fuel
plumbers, engineers, electricians and others who can design and install and operate boilers/fuel handling and storage systems · development groups and public bodies such as County Councils who wish to support wood energy projects in their area.

Below we have listed some examples that illustrate what we expect pilot projects could look like:

A community led chipping and fuel supply business selling to local energy users
A district heating scheme in a town centre, village or connecting a group of residential, industrial or commercial buildings.
A wood fuelled CHP scheme - this is likely to be focussed on a major process heat user in the Industrial sector
A rural or land based business or community that can develop both wood fuel supply and wood fuel use in a single integrated project.
Public sector bodies such as the HSE and County Councils delivering a cluster of boiler investments across a range of buildings in their estate of properties.
Private buildings such as hotels, leisure centres, care homes or in the retail sector, ideally delivering a cluster of boiler investments across a range of buildings in their estate of properties.

Wood energy pilot project selection and development.

Participations in the pilot projects will secure help and support from our consultant team in terms of wood fuel resource planning, boiler design and installation and engineering advice, business and cost planning and tendering and procurement.

In addition the RASLRES project can offer limited direct capital funding and help participants secure other grants, loans and sources of capital funds to help deliver wood energy schemes in the region.

The selection process and criteria to identify pilot projects will be based upon a number of factors such as:

If the project is commercially viable and can be shown to have a good chance of implementation by the participant and with our support · Ensuring the availability and sustainability of a viable wood fuel resource
The formal commitment of participants to an investment and development process
If the investment and development timescale can be within the 2010 or 2011.
Ensuring a good geographical spread of pilot projects
Ensuring a good spread of project types, so that each pilot project is distinctive and promotes market development in a range of situations.

Support services we offer.

We will provide commercial and business development advisory and support services to participants in each pilot project, and carry out research, feasibility analysis and other tasks identified as necessary to meet the objectives of the pilot projects and the needs of the participating clients.

The advice and support we can offer is commercially impartial and will be flexibly tailored to the needs of each participant. It can include a series of staged steps that help build up the project:

Initial contact and pre-feasibility assessment. This will be undertaken through telephone and email contact and will establish if the project meets the basic criteria to become a pilot project. We can offer simple advice on the viability of the project in technical and commercial terms at this stage.
Meetings and site visits to collect more detailed information on the nature and scope of the pilot project. This will confirm sufficient details to help develop the project in more detail. It may include an energy audit and we can also signpost participants to other areas of support in terms of renewables and energy minimization if needed.
After this we can determine scope of support services. We will work with participants to agree a scope of support we can offer to help develop and plan the project. This is flexible and project specific.
Secure formal agreement and commitment from participants to the project. We would wish to offer our support on the basis of a written agreement.
Undertake feasibility study, design and planning as required. This will comprise a number of technical and commercial reports and studies that allow the participants to fully understand the scope and nature of the investment required. It can include design and engineering proposals, costed business plans, carbon saving estimates, advise on financing and grants. We can assess the availability of wood fuel and help develop suitable supply chains and provide contract templates for both fuel and technology provision. We can advise on technology suppliers and other contractors required to deliver projects.
For wood fuel supply chain projects we can provide woodland resource audits and more detailed forestry assessments.
Assist in the procurement and implementation of the project as required. We can help with tendering and implementation.

We hope to bring all 4 pilot projects through each stage over the next 18 months.

For further information regarding this project: visit the RASLRES project website.

Contact us.

We would be delighted to discuss if you have a project that we might assist you with.

For queries about eligibility of projects please contact:

Steve Luker, Steve Luker Associates Ltd. Project manager for the wood energy support services work. T: 0044 (0) 141 416 4230. M: 0044 (0)7970 522160. E: steveluker@hotmail.com. Skype: steveluker

For queries about boiler installations and district heating and / or CHP:

Tom Bruton, BioXL. Expert consultant wood energy. T: +353 87 9381882. E: tom.bruton@bioXL.ie
Fred Tottenham. Expert consultant wood energy. M: 00353 861517378. E: ftotts@iol.ie

For queries about wood fuel supply and forestry related projects please contact:

Paddy Donovan, DARE ltd. Expert consultant wood fuel. M: 00353 87 285 20 66. E: dare@iolfree.ie

For general queries and information about the RASLRES project please contact:

Bernadette Phelan, Western Development Commission, Development Executive and lead partner of the RASLRES project. T: 00353 (0)94 986 1441. M: 00353 (0)86 834 0279. E: bernadettephelan@wdc.ie

Available downloads:

Criteria for Pilot Selection (58 KB)