Bell Brothers employ over 150 nursery staff and produce 20 million plants per annum to the highest quality standards. It is vital that there is a reliable heat source to cope with this production. Continuously rising fuel oil prices created an urgent need to source a much lower cost fuel source in order for the business to remain viable. The company also wanted to dramatically reduce its level of CO2 emissions.
Rural Energy was employed to design, supply and install a turnkey biomass heating package. A 2MW Polytechnik moving/stepped grate wood chip boiler was installed in 2007 and can burn wood chip fuel in the range of 20-55% moisture content. The boiler is equipped with an automatic system to clean and remove the ash from heat exchangers and the combustion grate.
The Polytechnik biomass boiler and the two existing 5MW oil boilers are housed in a new plant room located within a new specialist energy centre. The biomass boiler is currently providing all the heat for the 8 acres of glasshouses, modulating the heat output to suit the load required.