Queen Elizabeth II High School is the first School in the Isle of Man to benefit from a wood chip boiler to heat the School.
The Isle of Man Government is keen to minimise the life time costs of its buildings and heating large buildings can be very costly. Making more use of an energy resource on our doorstep, rather than imported oil or gas, makes a lot of sense.
All of the woodchip to heat the School comes from the conifer plantations managed by DEFA, which cover over 5% of the Isle of Man. The timber is harvested from the Islands plantations, seasoned by air drying, processed at St John’s sawmill into fuel grade woodchip and then delivered to the School.
Tim Crookall, Minister for Education and Children, and MHK for Peel, commented, “Queen Elizabeth II High School has really led the way with its ecological initiatives and this is just the latest. In the current times, we all need to do what we can, not only to save money but to look after our precious environment, and I am pleased the School has become the first in the Island to use this local fuel resource to provide heating.”
Phil Gawne, Minister for the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture said, “I think this is a fantastic example of local sourcing, the nearest plantation is less than 5 miles away and the sawmill is less than 2 miles, far better than having to import oil or gas from less direct, less secure, external sources.”
The boiler was commissioned on 3rd December and has been working ever since to heat the School. Ministers Crookall and Gawne visited the site today and formally declared the boiler open.
Sue Moore, Head Teacher, said “This is a very well designed and constructed project, and is an ideal site to show others interested in this heating technology, including other schools, how it all works. School children in all schools will be able to follow the energy consumption figures and use the information as a learning resource for science and technology lessons.”
Peter Longworth, Energy Initiatives Officer, commented, “We are all concerned about energy prices in the future. The delivered price of fuel grade woodchip to QEII works out as less than 4p/kWh which is significantly less than oil or gas. I am more confident predicting a stable price of biomass from Isle of Man plantations than I am the price of oil or gas in years to come. Annual heating cost savings are projected to be over ?12,000 per year at current fossil fuel prices.”
The School is also the first customer of the “Woodchip Tanker” from the Sawmill which delivers the woodchip directly into the fuel store. Each delivery is just over 5 tonnes, which heats the School for nearly a week.
The boiler was specified and project managed by the DOI Operations- Education Works division. The boiler is a 550kW Gilles boiler from Austria and is projected to need about 250 tonnes of woodchip per year.
The School can also now use the technology behind the Biomass boiler within lessons and as part of the School’s Eco-Committee improvement plans. It was an important part of their recent successful entry into the Zayed Future Energy Prize.
The financing for the boiler came from the Isle of Man Government Energy Initiatives Capital Fund, an Invest-to-Save fund which has also been used for lots of other projects across the Education Estate, such as insulation upgrades and lighting controls. The Department of Education and Children and the Department of Infrastructure wish to thank the consultants and contractors involved in the design, construction and engineering of this challenging project.
