Liiva Boiler House on local wood chips

By project IRENES

Published on 03 March 2021

Estonia

Eesti

About this good practice

Liiva municipality and Muhu island tackled several concerns: supplying local district heating boiler house with local renewable material, keeping island landscapes clear of brushwood (ditches, road sides, under power lines etc) and providing stable jobs for locals thus also increasing tax income of the island.
The renovation of the old boiler house and district heating network took place in 2008-2010 and it has been operating on local wood chips ever since. Three employees of the boiler house are in charge cutting and chipping wood across the island, plus local people and companies can sell wood (e.g. logging residues, brush from private land) to the boiler house.
The main beneficiaries of the practice are:
- Local inhabitants
- Local companies
- Local municipality

Resources needed

The boiler house was funded by Estonian Environmental Investment Centre (EIC) and local government funding. It provides jobs for 4 people in boiler house and three people collecting and chipping the wood. EIC is funded from state income of environmental taxes.

Evidence of success

All goals set in planning process were achieved:
Maintaining local landscapes – 2200 m3 of wood chips used annually
Improved efficiency – heat losses down from 20% to 5%.
Upgrading boiler house - no fossil fuels or peat used any more, emissions reduced (CO2 to 0 t/year).
Added 7 jobs in small local community

Potential for learning or transfer

For several years they have hosted seminars and excursions to the boiler-house to introduce the built system – the process and system developed specifically for the island – heating local town and keeping island landscapes clear of brush wood in collaboration with local government and local inhabitants.