Beacon Barracks MOD

System Summary
Boiler type: 
Herz 995kW BioFire
Fuel type: 
Wood Chip
Fuel store: 
Scraper Floor
As with a number of Ministry of Defence sites across the UK, Beacon Barracks was an off-gas site using large amounts of heat.
 
In 2014, the MOD began investigating the possibility of converting some of the site for biomass heating. With the imminent return of two regiments from their stations in Germany, the construction of new barrack blocks and residential housing was an ideal project for this conversion.
 
Site contractors Lend Lease asked a number of main contractors to tender to manage the construction of a biomass plant for a district heating scheme. After numerous visits to survey the existing plant room and area around it, NG Bailey and Rural Energy partnered up and offered a biomass proposal for district heating.
 
NG Bailey successfully won this project and contracted Rural Energy to design the plant room and fuel store solution to the finite detail. This design included reconfiguring the plant room and utilising previous wasted space beside the existing building.
 
Overall, the MOD desired to have a fuel store suitable for tipping 45m3 wood chip in a short amount of time. With limited site access and due to the location of the energy centre, it became evident after lengthy discussion with the client that a walking floor option suited their needs best. This solution was custom-designed to their needs rather than value engineered – overall a fully functioning site was more important than cost, which allowed for a tailored system.
 
Rural Energy supplied specifications for the retrofit plant room and fuel store. As a result, NG Bailey’s team undertook changes such as redeveloping the plant room with new steel beams for support and removing an existing wall. NG Bailey also built and prepared the fuel store.
 
The walking ‘scraper’ floor was then installed by Rural Energy alongside the provision and installation of a 995kW Herz BioFire and fuel feed.
 
With a number of contractors working on site under NG Bailey, Rural Energy also provided a dedicated Project Manager for the site as well as an installation and commissioning team and a programme of coordinated with the main contractors.