Bioenergy Implementation Plan - South-East Regional Authority

The conclusions from the viability analysis of a commercial wood-chip boiler are as follows:
• Total production costs of heat in the wood chip boiler are less than the production costs using natural gas
or oil. The additional investment after subsidy (44%) is not very significant and, as a result, the simple
pay-back period is less than one year in the case of natural replacement
• Even in the case of forced replacement the viability of the project is better than the minimum criteria of no
more than 6 years of pay-back period
• The analysis found that the installation of wood-chip fired heating systems is an attractive option for the
commercial/industrial sector.
9.4.3. Industrial Heat Boilers
A 5 MW industrial wood chip boiler and an industrial wood pellet boiler of the same size were compared with an oil
boiler and a natural gas boiler as reference systems (four comparisons in total).
The investment in the wood fired boiler without subsidy was estimated to be approx. €2.8m, while the price after
receiving investment subsidy was calculated as €2.2m, corresponding to a 21% investment subsidy (30% for the first
MW installed capacity and 20% for the remaining MW installed up to a maximum eligible cost of €750,000 under the
ReHeat Programme).
The viability analyses are presented in Table 9.4 and the following conclusions were reached:
• The investment in a wood pellet boiler or a wood chip boiler is approx. 25% higher than the investments
in a natural gas or an oil-fired boiler. However, the operation and maintenance costs for a wood fuel boiler
are substantially lower than the corresponding price for natural gas and oil boilers, ranging from 28% lower
(wood pellet boiler compared with natural gas boiler) to 55% lower (wood chip boiler compared with
oil boiler)
• Natural replacement was found to be viable in all four comparisons, ranging from a simple pay back period
of 6 months (replacement of an oil boiler with a wood-chip fired boiler) to 1.5 years (replacement of a gas
boiler with a wood-pellet fired boiler)
• Accelerated replacement of oil and gas boilers with a wood pellet boiler was not viable according to the
criterion (3 years pay back period). However, it should be noted that the pay back period for replacement of
an oil boiler with a wood pellet boiler is only 3.5 years
• Accelerated replacement of an oil boiler with a wood chip boiler is viable with a pay back period of 2.4 years
• Accelerated replacement of a natural gas boiler with a wood chip boiler is close to being viable with a pay
back period of 3.6 years
• Bioenergy based heating systems were found to be an attractive option for larger industries in the
South-East Region.
9.4.4. Industrial CHP-Plants
An industrial wood chip fired CHP-Plant (5 MWth) was compared with an oil boiler and a natural gas boiler as the
reference heat system. The electricity produced by the CHP-Plant can be sold to the national grid under the REFIT
scheme for 7.2 Eurocents/kWh.
64
south-east regional authority
údarás réigiúnach an Oir-DheisCIrt