The use of biomass heating increases by 23%, reaching a new record

Nearly 245,000 heating systems were powered by biomass at the end of 2017, according to data from the Biomass Observatory, managed by the Spanish Association for the Energy Valorization of Biomass (Avebiom). This figure represents a 23.15% increase compared to the previous year, or 46,027 more systems, thanks primarily to the significant rise in pellet stoves, which reached a new record.

According to the Biomass Observatory, the use of biomass as a heating fuel has increased 25-fold in the last decade, since in 2008 there were fewer than 9,600 operational installations in the country. Although the greatest growth has been recorded in the last three years, during which the number of installations has practically doubled, rising from 127,995 operating at the end of 2014 to 244,197 registered at the end of 2017.

Javier Díaz, president of Avebiom, believes that “among the factors that have contributed to the consolidation of this trend, its environmental importance, its contribution to maintaining rural employment —and therefore to boosting local economies— and, above all, the significant economic savings it represents for families, businesses and administrations.”.

The largest increase in biomass heating installations has been driven by the rise in sales of pellet stoves, which reached 42,728 units in 2017 alone. This figure, a new sales record in Spain, represents a 19% increase compared to 2016.

Boiler sales are growing again
. Overall, biomass boiler installations increased by 8.7% in 2017. After a year of lower sales in 2016, installations of boilers under 50kW have rebounded, rising by 9.5%. Installations of biomass boilers with a power output of 50kW or more, common in industrial and collective installations, increased by 7%.

This improvement has allowed the biomass boiler fleet to reach 15,755 installations with a power of less than 50 kW at the end of 2017; 10,536, with a power between 50 and 1000 kW; and 830 boilers with more than 1MW of power.

In terms of installed capacity, biomass capacity increased by 1,106 MW in 2017, including stoves, boilers, and other equipment. This figure confirms the trend of annual growth exceeding 1,000 megawatts over the last four years. Installed capacity has increased fivefold in the last ten years, rising from 1,510 MW in 2008 to 9,404 MW at the end of 2017.

By autonomous communities, the ranking is led by Andalusia, Castile and León and Catalonia, which exceed one thousand megawatts installed.

This level of installed power is making it possible to generate a considerable amount of thermal energy, estimated at 1,510.1 kTOE, equivalent to a lower consumption of 1,760 million liters of heating oil.

This therefore means a lower emission of greenhouse gases, estimated at 4.67 million tons of CO2, thus contributing to the fight against climate change by avoiding the pollution produced by 3.1 million vehicles for a year.