Clanree is a 120-bedroom 4* hotel with Spa/Leisure facilities and swimming pool. Being one of the busiest hotels in the Northwest it is a large energy user for heating and hot water. This high heat/hot water demand was being met by fossil fuel oil boilers. Taking into consideration the substantial carbon taxes the business would face, the hotel owners were keen to improve the Hotel’s green credentials with a focus on sustainability and reducing their carbon emissions and of course reduce costs. The hotel was also eligible for SSRH (Support Scheme for Renewable Heat) a 15-year support scheme, that allowed them to make the switch to a renewable energy source and recoup the investment needed to make that change in a very short space of time.
Clanree Hotel
Project Name: Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny, Co Donegal (November 2024)
Project Background – What the Client required?
Clanree Hotel approached us to help improve their current heating system with the focus on reducing reliance on fossil fuels, improving sustainability and mitigating the cost of carbon tax. At present carbon tax is €56 per tonne of C02 which will rise annually until 2030 when it will be €100 per tonne. The biomass installation will have an annual CO2 saving of up to 430 tonnes. It was important that any installation was carried out with minimal disruption to the hotel which is why the option of the prefabricated plant room was proposed. The biomass plantroom is built and fully equipped off site at our premises and transported to site and commissioned and connected to the hotel’s heating system within a few days. The hotel will benefit from the SSRH grant (annual payments for 15 years) so it was important to have a reliable service and maintenance team. CHP Mechanical Services Ltd have been installing commercial biomass since 2013 and these boilers continue to be serviced and maintained. Using only proven, reliable manufacturers ensures that parts can always be replaced and we carry a large stock of parts for the biomass.
Biomass heating is a carbon-neutral fuel type that not only matches the energy efficiency of gas or oil but also sets itself apart as a green and renewable source of energy. Unlike fossil fuels, biomass heating contributes to a reduced carbon footprint, making it an environmentally responsible choice. One of the key advantages of biomass heating is its ability to provide consistent heating and hot water, even for large spaces or multi-roomed buildings like hotels.
Our company was contracted to provide a prefabricated biomass plant room which would integrate with their existing heating system. It consisted of following system elements:
- Prefabricated plant room – to client’s specification
- 500kw Biomass Boiler (Wood Chip)
- A 140m3 wood chip fuel store (6m diameter x 6.81m high) situated beside biomass plantroom is used to hold wood chip fuel for the 500kW boiler. Fuel is transferred via horizontal spring agitator from the fuel store and fed to the boiler via a screw conveyor. The operation of the conveyer is automatically controlled by the boiler controls.
- Installation of 10,000 litre buffer tank
- Expansion vessels
- Energy saving pumps
- Thermal insulation of the heating pipework system – insulated pumps & valve covers
- District heating pipework between new plantroom & existing plantrooms
- Alterations to existing plantrooms to accommodate the new biomass system
- Plate heat exchangers
- BMS automated controls to maximise efficiency and generate reports
