Solid biomass can be used for heat production in hotels covering their requirements for space heating and domestic hot water. Various types of solid biomass can be used including forest residues as well as agricultural by-products and residues. Many hotels all over the world utilize currently biomass for covering their heating needs.
- Soho House Group’s country hotel
Soho Farm, on the outskirts of Great Tew in Oxford shire is the latest Soho House Group’s country hotel. Once completed, the luxury complex will consist of 30 bungalows, farmhouse, boathouse, swimming pool, spa, gym, tennis courts and five-a-side football pitch.
The challenge
Soho House Group wanted an energy efficient and environmentally friendly heating system to supplement the LPG gas boilers. Maintaining the comfort of their guests was of the utmost importance so a reliable and well-designed system was high on their priority list.
Treco was appointed as specialist heating contractors after a rigorous selection process. The scope of works not only included the biomass installation but also the supply and installation of the LPG boilers, cold water mains, district heating network and control wiring.
The solution
Treco supplied 4 x 249 kW Guntamatic Pro pellet cascaded system with 20,000 litres of thermal storage. In addition to this, Treco was responsible for supplying and installing 4 x 750 kW LPG boilers.
Buildings on the site had to be connected to the heating system, so Treco supplied and installed 4.5 km of Rehau Rauthermex underground pipe as well as completing all the trenching and back-filling for the pipe.
Individual HIUs which include small thermal stores were installed in each of the buildings, this allows the properties to have instantaneous hot water, something which is imperative to the client.
The incentive
As well as delivering fuel savings of 20%-30%, Soho Farm will be accredited into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). This means the client will generate RHI payments of circa £ 85,000 per annum, indexed linked for the next 20 years.
2. Cofton Country Holiday Park
is set within 80 acres of countryside and consists of a mixture of camping plots, caravan plots, static caravans and lodges. It is open all year round and hosts a wide range of amenities such as an outdoor pool, gym, sauna, fishing lakes, playgrounds and shopping facilities.
The multi award-winning holiday park near Dawlish, South Devon is surrounded by an amazing natural habitat, which they nurtured over the years resulting in numerous conservation awards including over 15 years of Gold Awards from the David Bellamy Conservation Award Scheme.
The challenge
To connect all of the properties up to the biomass system, Treco was required to install over 1800 m of underground pipe. The business had to remain open to the public, and so it was crucial that we worked with the client to ensure there was no impact to the operation of the business. Due to this, it was planned that the laying of the pipe and reinstatement would happen concurrently to ensure minimal disruption to customers.
Our works were also going on during key times of the year for holiday makers, such as bank holiday weekends. We had to ensure our works were planned around these times, and that all the shower blocks were available to use throughout the busy periods.
The solution
To connect all of the properties up to the biomass system, Treco was required to install over 1800 m of underground pipe. The business had to remain open to the public, and so it was crucial that we worked with the client to ensure there was no impact to the operation of the business. Due to this, it was planned that the laying of the pipe and reinstatement would happen concurrently to ensure minimal disruption to customers.
Our works were also going on during key times of the year for holiday makers, such as bank holiday weekends. We had to ensure our works were planned around these times, and that all the shower blocks were available to use throughout the busy periods.
More information about the types of systems in our range can be found on the biomass boilers page.
3. Cofton Country Holiday Park
The incentive
has always been committed to making a difference and being driven to improve energy efficiency, reduce its carbon footprint as well as save costs on their ongoing fuel bills, they were decided on a renewable energy source to achieve those goals.
Saving around 40% on Cofton existing annual fuel bill the new boilers, which burn locally sourced wood chip, are set to not only cut CO₂ by at least 450 tons per year, but to provide pay back on the installation costs in under five years, aided in part by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. Benefitting from the RHI scheme will see the system generate approximately £85,000 in payments every year for the next 20 years (index linked).
The big reveal
Taking its green credentials to new heights, Cofton launched a state-of-the-art biomass hub that will provide heat and hot water to Cofton 4,800 sq ft leisure and dining complex, cottages, and shower blocks.
Officially opened by Anne Marie Morris, MP for Newton Abbot, Cofton biomass hub is the largest of its kind in Devon, and is expected to produce on average 1.9 million kWh of energy that will constantly charge four 5,000 lit. thermal stores of hot water, heating its indoor pool, cottages, outdoor pools during the summer months, 24 showers and Cofton’s amenity blocks.
Funded by 500,000 pound loan from Natwest Bank, the four new biomass boilers and district heating solution mean that multiple locations across Cofton can be heated from the one hub.
We were delighted Cofton Holidays appointed us to oversee the biomass heating system. With reduction in carbon emissions becoming more and more important to businesses both large and small, it was a great opportunity to be involved in a local scheme of this scale.
The project centered around the replacement of a series of individual fossil fuel boilers, all of which were replaced with a central wood chip boiler system, which comprised three 250kW boilers, all housed in a state-of-the-art boiler house. The sites existing biomass boiler was relocated to this building, providing the site with one central biomass hub.
With CO₂ savings of over 450 tons annually, and fuel sourced locally from sustainable forestry, the scheme helps both national carbon reduction targets and supports local jobs.
It has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with a local business which places as much importance to conservation and the local environment as financial reward.
4. Gwesty’r Emlyn Hotel in Carmarthenshire
offers 29 stylish guest bedrooms and a function suite. The rooms have been recently refurbished to an impeccably high standard and have been individually decorated.
The challenge
With guest comfort being paramount, the hotel wanted to be able to provide ample supplies of heating and hot water at a manageable budget. They had been previously using heating oil, which had become prohibitively expensive. The owners wanted to replace the ageing oil boiler with a modern, high efficiency biomass boiler system and approached Treco.
The solution
The client was responsible for the construction of the boiler house, fuel store and all downstream works. Treco installed and commissioned the biomass boiler, working with the client’s heating engineer to connect to the current system.
- Two top-of-the-range 99 kW Guntamatic Powerchip biomass boilers in cascade
- Biomass boiler linked to existing heating and hot water system
- 5,000 lt thermal store
- 3.5 m agitator and 3.5 m auger to enable a large fuel store to minimize fills
- Fully automated fuel delivery system
- High efficiency, low energy modulating main system pump
- 1 x class 2 RHI eligible ultrasonic heat meters complete with certification
- Heat Interface Unit and heat exchanger assemblies
- Full assistance with RHI application including schematic drawings
- Commissioning, programming and end user trainining
- 5. Biomass at the Hotel Barceló Bobadilla
Located in the Andalusian countryside between the Costa del Sol and Granada, the hotel coexists in a natural and uniquely integrated environment thanks to all implemented environmental measures and sustainability criteria. Among the various initiatives to reduce CO₂ emissions, the hotel has two biomass boilers that provide hot water to all hotel facilities, swimming pool and spa. The fuel is obtained from the bones of the olives.
Boiler model: 1X400 kW and 1X300 kW
Total power: 700 kW
Fuel: Olive bone
Year of installation: 2009
Municipality / Province: Loja / Granada
6. Biomass air conditioning in the Monasterio de Valbuena
Located in the heart of the Ribera del Duero, the Hotel Castilla Termal Monasterio de Valbuena is placed in one of the best-preserved Cistercian Monasteries in Europe, its construction dates from the XII century. This property has 79 bedrooms and 18,000 square meters of which 2,000 are dedicated to the spa. Its main energy sources are biomass and geothermal energy. It has two boilers of 300 kW.
Boiler model: 2X300 kW
Total power: 600 kW
Fuel: Chips
Year of installation: 2015
Municipality / Province: San Bernardo / Valladolid
7. Biomass at the Hotel Spa Sierra de Cazorla
Installation of two 400 kW biomass boilers. The hotel meets the conditions to be called an Energetically Sustainable Hotel. In 2006, 2 400 kW boilers were installed. It has two silos, with capacity of 45,000 kg each, and uses the bones of the olives to generate heat energy for domestic hot water, heating, spa and fitness center.
Boiler model: 2X400 kW
Total power: 800 kW
Fuel: Olive bone
Year of installation: 2006
Municipality / Province: Cazorla / Jaén
8. Installation of a biomass boiler at the Hotel El Montanyà Resort & Spa
Installation of one 1,000 kW boiler for the El Montanyà Resort & Spa hotel complex. The Montanyà Resort & Spa (Seva, Barcelona) consists of 2 hotels of 14,454 m² and 4,404 m², with 142 and 67 bedrooms. The hotels are separated and a heat distribution network was installed. Fuel: G50/P45 splinter Silo: 48 tons This installation has enabled this hotel complex to acquire A class energy rating.
Boiler model: 1X1,000 kW
Total power: 1,000 kW
Fuel: Splinter G50/P45
Year of installation: 2014
Municipality / Province: Seva / Barcel
Use of Bio-Fuels in hotels
Biodiesel is quickly becoming more popular, and the U.S. economy reaped about $4 billion from it in the past year. The Hilton Stockholm Slussen, in Sweden, turns its organic waste into biodiesel at a nearby plant. Increasingly, the biodiesel that results from this and similar projects in Sweden are powering the nation’s vehicles.