Thursday, 9 April 2009

Today, Living Energy fired-up the first purpose-built woodchip boiler to be installed in a New Zealand school, at Dunstan High School in Alexandra.  The boiler has been installed as part of the Renewable Heating in Schools Programme, a pilot scheme being jointly funded by the Ministry of Education and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.

Living Energy have installed 6 of the 7 woodchip boilers funded under this programme, with the 650kW underfed-hearth Binder boiler at Dunstan High the first to “go automatic” following a comprehensive electrical and mechanical commissioning procedure.  The boiler is now providing clean, low cost and sustainable heat to the pupils and staff of this large Central Otago secondary school.  It’s sister installation, a 250kW step-grate boiler, will be commissioned and put into service at the school boarding hostel in the coming days.

The state-of-the-art Binder boilers replace a 1.4MW coal boiler that had heated the school for close to 30 years, and a 1.3MW system that had been operating at the hostel since the early 1980’s.  Tightening air emission regulations forced the school to consider other heating options, with Binder boilers from Living Energy chosen to meet their future needs.  The robust build quality and high levels of automation will not only give the school cleaner and more user-friendly heating systems, but will last for many generations of students.



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