Promoting forest bioenergy How Upper Austria developed its biomass heating market

Christiane Egger OÖ Energiesparverband

christiane.egger@esv.or.at 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

2000

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

W

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 christiane.egger@esv.or.at

www.esv-en.at, www.oec-en.at, www.wsed.at

Thank you very much for your attention!