Wood Energy Contracting Youth Hostel Weitental, Bruck/Mur - Austria

Ecological heating in a local recreation area

Not far of the city centre of Bruck the Youth- and Family Hostel Bruck/Weitental is situated in the middle of the park "Weitental". "To enjoy the unspoilt nature" is one of the promotion messages. Nevertheless, originally the installation of an oil heating system was planed.

Thanks to the initiative of the installer, who was in charge of the project, the operators of the youth hostel took into consideration a wood heating system. The installer approached Rudolf Schaffer, a forester and today's operator of the heat delivery community Weitental, and asked if he would be interested in operating a wood heating system. The forester agreed, the heat delivery community Weitental was founded, and the wood energy contracting project for the youth and family hostel started.

The design and installation of the wood heating was undertaken in co-operation with the installer who was responsible for the installations in the entire building complex. The heat delivery community could decide freely on the system, and it was in charge of various construction and installation work. Since an oil heating system was planned, no storage room was foreseen, where the wood chips could be simply tipped in. Later a container had to be built in front of the house where the wood chips are tipped in and transported with a screw conveyor to the boiler.

Part from minor start up problems, the 100 kW plant operates without any problems already for more than 4 years. Because of the remote control system, a continuos plant control is possible, and if exceptionally an error occurs, it can be repaired before the guests of the youth and family hostel can even notice it.

Owing to the solar system integrated in the roof of the hostel the heating period is limited to the winter. In summer on demand the wood heating system can support the hot water preparation. In the meantime, due to the success of the project, the heat delivery community has started to operation of two other plants located in the neighbourhood.

From the economic point of view, both the plant operator and the contracting client are satisfied. Thanks to the combination of the wood heating with the solar system the youth hostel has not only lower heating costs, but also the guests welcome this environmentally friendly system. For the operator of the heat delivery community it is a new source of income for the next 15 years. And, the realisation of this project is a good opportunity to confirm the initiatives for climate and environmental protection of the municipality of Bruck.

Technical Data:

• Plant system: 100 kW underfeed stoker with 4,5 x 4,5 m rotating scrapers
• Annual consumption: approx. 160 MWh
• Wood fuel consumption: approx.. 300 m3 lv

Economic Data:

• Investment: 43.600 Euro
• Heating system: 16.700 Euro
• Construction: 3.700 Euro
• Installation work 23.200 Euro
• Basic price per kW and year 20 Euro

Contact:

• Plant operator: Heat delivery community Weitental, contact: Rudolf Schaffer, Tel. 03862 53812
• Project monitoring: Regionalenergie Steiermark, http://www.regionalenergie.at