Promoting forest bioenergy How Upper Austria developed its biomass heating market
Christiane Egger OÖ Energiesparverband
[email protected] www.oec-en.at, www.esv-en.at, www.wsed.at
The Region/State of Upper Austria Oberösterreich
Capital: Linz Population: 1.4 million Area: 12,000 km² Economic activities: industry, service sector, tourism, 25% of the Austrian industrial exports
Energy Agency of the Region of Upper Austria OÖ Energiesparverband
Organisation • founded (in 1991) and mostly
funded by the regional government • promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy • provides services to private households, public bodies & businesses • manages programmes on behalf of
the regional government • supports development of legislation
and policies
Services • Energy advice (15,000 sessions/a) • Building rating (> 80,000 buildings
rated since 1993) • Training programmes • Management of regional subsidy
programmes • Public awareness campaigns,
events, publications • Pilot projects • Municipal energy strategies • European cooperation • OEC network
The Oekoenergie-Cluster Upper Austria (OEC)
• network of renewable energy & energy efficiency companies in Upper Austria
• 160+ partner companies • since 2000, managed by the OÖ Energiesparverband • www.oec-en.at
• Turnover: 1.9 billion Euro • Employees: 8,880 • Export share: > 50 %
Solar thermal, Biomass, Efficient Buildings
Turnover OEC partners x 8
Export countries x 7
Staff x 5
Number of OEC partners x 2
168 74 1.620
8.880
12 85
300 mill $
2.5 billion US$
Ökoenergie-Cluster (OEC) 2000 - 2012
Biomass boiler + equipment manufacturers in Upper Austria (partners of the OEC)
More info: www.oec-en.at
Renewable energy sources in Upper Austria
• Share of renewable energy: 34 % of total primary energy demand (15 % hydro, 15 % biomass, 4 % solar & other renewables)
• Share of renewable heating: 50 % of total heating demand
• Avoided imports of fossil fuels: >1 billion Euro per year
By 2030, all electricity and space heating will come from renewables!
reduction of heat demand by 39 % reduction of electricity demand by 0.5 %/year minus 65 % CO2 emissions
• climate protection: increasing temperatures more natural disasters
• increasing costs: social problems ("energy poverty") negative impact on the competitiveness of companies, especially price fluctuations loss of purchasing power
• import dependency • innovation and employment ("green jobs") • economic perspectives for the farming/forestry sector
Motivation for 100 % renewable targets
Biomass heating - why and how?
• a sustainable and carbon-neutral fuel
• especially suitable for heating of buildings
• modern heating systems are fully automated with ultra-low emissions • ensures energy independence
• supports the local forest economy ■ sustainable forestry ■ heat demands continue to decrease ("better buildings")
■ only installations with highest efficiencies & lowest emissions, high-convenience and for electricity production, only high-efficiency CHP
Upper Austria has pioneered biomass heating in the last two decades and achieved global leadership in small-scale systems.
25 % of all biomass boilers installed in the EU are manufactured by companies from Upper Austria
Carrots, sticks and tambourines
Upper Austria's sustainable energy strategy – example biomass heating
Regulatory measures Information & training • Emission & efficiency
standards • Fuel requirements • Renewable heating
mandates/obligations • Minimum
requirements heating & cooling
• Energy advice • Training programs • Publications,
campaigns & competitions
• Local energy action plans
• OEC - sustainable energy business network
Policy Packages
"sticks" "tambourines"
stimulate demand
support supply
• Investment grant programs
• Renewable heating as a program requirement
• Contracting program • Regional R & D
program, pilot projects
Financial measures "carrots"
Overcoming the chicken or the egg problem Building up a local market for automatic pellet heating
The pellet supply chain • pellets meeting strict fuel quality standards (production & handling) • distributors for bulk delivery (fully-pressurized trucks & skills to handle pellets) The equipment • well-functioning pellet boilers, stringent emission standards • high consumer convenience • if not: pellet boilers are likely to remain a niche market • technicians trained to install and service the equipment The customers • individual homes able and willing to invest • larger buildings (to avoid overly-long payback for bulk delivery systems) Information and awareness for market actors and stakeholders • a new approach to heating needs information, awareness & training • for potential pellet producers & distributors, heating companies, installers, public
administration & permitting agencies & potential customers
The supply chain Pellets Wood chips saw mill /pellet plant forest ▼ ▼ pellet production chipping of residues ▼ ▼ delivery in bulk by tractor trailer, truck pressurised tank truck ▼ ▼ transferred into storage fed into storage by pipe or by filler pipe poured off
Driving the market through standards
Fuel • early standardisation of pellet fuels: a important reason for Austria's
pionieering role • highly standardised fuel allows for high efficiency and low emission
combustion technologies were developed based on and optimised for the standardised fuel
• warranty of the boilers only if standardised pellets are used • European pellet fuel standard
Equipment standards (Upper Austria) • efficiency and emission standards • regularely up-dated to drive innovation
Driving the market through standards: Fuels & Equipment
Efficiency factor of tested biomass boilers
CO emissions of tested biomass boilers
Source: FJ-BLT Wieselburg; Bioenergy 2020+
Example: Emissions & efficiency of biomass boilers: results from 1,000+ boiler tests
What is it? • cooperatives of farmers that own forest land, build and operate small-
scale biomass district heating systems which typically supply village centers (e.g. the local government buildings, schools, businesses and housing) with heating
• farmers become successful “heat entrepreneurs“ • cooperatives typically have around 10 members (local farmers,
municipality or local business owners) • about 70% of the fuel comes from the cooperative members’ own forests Why? • specific grant programme covers 40% of the investment costs • local added value, additional income for farmers • environmental benefits
Business model: Biomass district heating
What is it? • an energy service company (an ESCO) invests in and operates a
biomass installation located on the premises of a company or public organisation and sells the heat to the owners/users of the building at an agreed price
• investment is paid back over contract period Why? • high upfront costs - owner can not/does not want to invest • building owners do not want to be bothered with fuel purchase and boiler
maintenance • ESCOs are specialists in purchasing and handling the biomass fuel and
ensure that the plant is running at optimal efficiency • Upper Austrian support programme "ECP"
Business model: Biomass Heat Contracting
0
500
1000
1500
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2500
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
< 100 kW 100 kW - 1 MW > 1 MW
capa
city
in M
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Biomass heating in Upper Austria clean, efficient, fully automated
• 15 % of total energy consumption • 41,000 biomass heating installations
(20,000 automatic pellet heating systems) • 310 biomass district heating plants • 6 % of space heating & dom. hot water from wood pellets
Biomass heating technologies
technology automatic pellet
heating modern firewood boilers
automatic wood chip boilers
district heating combined heat & power stations
fuel pellets firewood wood chips wood chips whole trees
typical installed capacity
5-15 kW 20-40 kW 50-150 kW 100 kW-3 MW >1 MWel > 10 MWth
users, customers
single-family homes
farm buildings public & commercial buildings
all buildings all buildings
fuel supply bulk delivery usually from own forest
often by local farmers-forest owners
cooperative members & form sawmills
farmers & sawmills & other channels
home-scale pellet CHP plants
advanced wood-chip boilers
boilers for low energy/ passive buildings
industrial biomass heating systems
innovative stoves
Ökofen Pellematic Smart-e
ETA 340 Hack Guntamatic THERM wall-mounted
Fröling Lambdamat
Rika Evo Aqua
integrated de-dusting, monitored combustion, improved fuel feed
2-7 kW also by: Guntamatic Pro (up to 1000 kW)
hydronic heat distrubition, high-efficiency
Product and service innovation
Product and service innovation
modern log wood boilers
boiler integ-rated into the buffer storage
dual fuel boilers and stoves
new solutions for pellet storage
advanced transport systems
Hargassner MV Solarfocus octoplus
Fröling SP-Dual Ökofen textile tank Flexilo
Windhager "1 probe"
logwood pieces up to 1 meter
also Fröling P1, ÖkoFEN Pellematic Smart
also Rika Induo also Solarfocus probe switching device
user-friendly control systems (e.g.apps for smart phones)
reduced electricity consumption
air collectors for wood chip drying
heat contracting
Gilles Hargassner ECO HK 20 - 55 kW
CONA patented solar air collector
Aigner Energie Contracting
all other boiler and stove manufacturers
75 % reduction in el. consumption (ignition, fuel feed)
Product and service innovation
How to get a biomass heating market started
• take a "package approach" (regulatory, financial & training/awareness programmes)
• communicate the benefits (not "just" climate protection) • allow for a learning curve across the value chain (demonstration
programmes & pellets campaigns & training) • identify most promising markets (often new construction) • understand progress & communicate success & take corrective action
(market intelligence) • take a longer term perspective
Report & video available at www.oec-en.at
• 3-day training seminar with technical training sessions & site-visits • biomass heating technologies & market development
(wood pellets & wood chips) • in English • www.oec-en.at
International Training Seminar on Biomass Heating 9 – 12 September 2013, Linz/Austria
International Training Seminar
Biomass Heating Market development
and technologies
Linz/Austria, 9 - 12 September 2013
European Pellet Conference: 26 – 27 February 2014 The latest on policy, market & technology trends,
innovation, sustainability World Pellet Business & Technology Forum Pellet Networking Platform Pellet News Worldwide Biomass next - conference for young researchers Site-visits Trade show: 100+ biomass-related exhibitors held in Wels/Austria
Get involved: Call for Papers, Projects & Speakers Deadline: October 10, 2013 www.wsed.at
Economic impact of biomass heating in Upper Austria
• Total employment in biomass heating 4,500 jobs
• Annual revenue of biomass boiler/ stove industry in Upper Austria (production, sales, installation): 500+ million Euro
• Annual investments in new biomass heating systems: 120 million Euro
• Annual sales of biomass heating fuels: 100 million Euro
Christiane Egger OÖ Energiesparverband
Landstrasse 45, A-4020 Linz, Austria [email protected]
www.esv-en.at, www.oec-en.at, www.wsed.at
Thank you very much for your attention!