Replacing diesel boiler with biomass in Aranda de Duero, Castilla y León

A Substation of Aranda de Duero´s DH network has been installed to replace the service provided previously by a 600-kW diesel boiler. The Aranda de Duero´s DH network substation uses biomass as fuel in addition to the recovered energy from the surplus of a cogeneration system installed at MICHELIN ARANDA´S factory. The building is made up of 48 flats for residential use. The substation has been installed in the existing boiler room, in the basement. This substation does not produce any noise, unlike the diesel boiler. In addition, since there is no combustion, there is no need for forced ventilation, so the noise made by the fan is reduced as well. Some of the reasons for installing this biomass system were the economic savings (minimum of 10 %), the environmental improvement (Emissions drop from 163 t to 8 t of CO2) and because the initial investment was null.

Moreover, the owners wanted to make the switch to biomass because they were looking for renewable energy systems instead of continuing to use fossil fuels and they looked forward to the money savings compared to diesel and gas. The substation was installed by REBI SL at the Aranda de Duero´s heat network and there were no costs were for the community living at the building. The installation lasted about 2 to 3 weeks. The community noticed the benefits early on since they get economic savings every month and the reliability of the heating system of the building has improved since the old diesel boiler was removed. Also, the community did not benefit from any financial aid or grant, more than replacing the heating system for free.

This best practice is issued from the activities of Work Package 4 “Preparation of instruments for replacement campaigns” of the REPLACE project. Read it now to discover many more best practices illustrating the benefits of innovative low-carbon and renewable heating and cooling systems.