Why Biomass Heating?
Biomass fuel is the most cost-effective renewable heating on the market. Right now, Wood Chip is costing €0.0506 per kwh and Wood Pellet is costing €0.1143 per kwh. In comparison electricity (heat pumps) is costing between €0.08-€0.13 per kwh.
Switching from fossil fuels allows even greater savings in Ireland with the Support Scheme for Renewable Heating which pays a tariff every quarter for 15 years based on your heat usage. Right now, fossil fuel oil costs €0.1145 per kwh and LPG costs €0.1207-€0.1643 per kwh. Natural gas which is usually recognised as the cheapest form of heating costs between €0.0602-€0.1411 per kwh.
Biomass is the cheapest form of heating on the market right now. It is not only a renewable source of heating but also exempt from carbon tax as it is carbon neutral. It is plentiful in Ireland and supply is not an issue. The government are supporting businesses to switch from fossil fuels to biomass by the SSRH Scheme. Find out more about the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat here.
Wood Chip
Wood Chip biomass fuel is the most cost-effective renewable heating on the market. It is plentiful in Ireland and comes from waste wood that is chipped and dried. Wood Chip is primarily gathered from the ‘wood brash’ that is left over when felling forestry. ‘Wood Brash’ is often left to rot in the ground which releases carbon that was sequestered by the tree while growing, when this ‘brash’ is used for wood chip it is used as a fuel for heating and it also releases the carbon it sequestered as the tree grew.
Thus, the same amount of carbon is released whether the ‘brash’ is left to rot in the ground or used in a biomass boiler.
Wood Chip is completely carbon neutral as businesses must source their chip from Wood Fuel Quality Assurance providers, this means they are sustainably managing the forestry, and they replenish as they fell. Wood Chip has a calorific value of 3.5kwh per kg.
Wood Pellet
Wood Pellet is similar to wood chip in terms of being produced from waste wood. Wood Pellets are primarily made from waste wood in sawmills, and this is then compressed and put through a drying process and binded with a resin. This fuel is then used in biomass boilers for producing heat.
Wood Pellets are widely available in Ireland with a number of companies manufacturing them and offering delivery countrywide.
Wood Pellets have a calorific value of 4.85 kwh per kg.
Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SEAI) SSRH
Support Scheme for Renewable Heat
The Support Scheme for Renewable heat is operational aid based on eligible heat use:
- A tariff which is tiered (reduces as heat output increases)
- Ongoing quarterly payments for 15 years
- For biomass heating systems
Eligible applicants – who can apply?
- Commercial, industrial, agricultural, public sector, district heating
- Not ‘emissions trading scheme’ (ETS) sites
- No single domestic
Eligible heat – what can you heat?
- Space heating
- Water heating
- Process heating
- Some exclusions e.g., open spaces, wood fuel drying, electricity generation
- Produced from an eligible installation and metered at point of use
- Not heat produced for the purpose of receiving SSRH
Who can apply and what can you heat?
- From renewable heating systems
- Existing installations that convert from fossil fuel to renewable fuel
- New installations (that have a counterfactual)
Tariff based on useable & eligible heat output.
