Green scheme to replace boilers

It will discuss the plans when it meets on Monday. The following schools, St, Mary’s Catholic Primary, Halifax; Beech Hill; Old Earth, Elland; West Vale; Ash Green and St Chad’s will all have new biomass (wood fuel) boilers installed.

Each individual scheme is estimated to cost between £80,000 to £100,000.

Council officers say they hope the boilers are likely to earn more than £1.3million over the next 20 years – and reduce CO2 emissions.

Installation of the new boilers, which burn recycled wood pellets, would take advantage of the Government’s new Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme, which encourages organisations to generate heat from renewable sources.

The incentive gives payments for every unit of heat generated and the RHI tariff is guaranteed for a 20 year period.

It is expected that the costs of installation would be recouped by the council within seven years.

Once that happens, the additional payments could be shared between the council and the schools.

The council estimates that the new boilers could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 400 tonnes a year.

A report by Ian Gray, director of economy and environment says Calderdale is the only council in the county not to have a biomass installation. GreIn conclusion he says the introduction of biomass boilers would result in “significant savings in terms of carbon reduction and energy consumption.”

Calderdale Council’s energy project officer, Dan Knight, said: “This is the sort of partnership approach that the council is trying to develop. Both the council and the schools will be saving money in the long term while demonstrating their commitment to the environment.”