After 7 months of construction work on site, the Worth School and Worth Abbey biomass district heating project is nearing completion.
The project includes the installation of a new 1.6MW biomass system, comprised of two 800kW wood chip biomass boilers, 1.5MW LPG backup system and ancillary equipment in a new energy centre building, along with an access road. The energy centre will supply heat to 24 connections points in existing buildings via a 1.6km long district heat main and includes three Tees to allow for anticipated future connections. The total project value is over £2 million (excluding VAT).
The biomass system will replace 35 old and inefficient oil boilers driving significant net CO2 emission savings and will supply hot water for both heating and any domestic hot water requirements at each connection point. The wood chip fuel for the biomass is locally sourced sustainable wood chip from accredited managed forests.
The project also includes an Alarm & Monitoring System for the biomass system which allows remote wireless monitoring of heat utilisation and automatic alarm notifications if there is an issue with the system.
The system is scheduled to be commissioned and handed over by the end of October 2021, less than two months behind schedule which, considering Brexit and Covid driving labour shortages and manufacturing delays, is a testament to the hard work of all involved.