District heating plant upgrades with operating support
Several district heating plants choose to buy operational support for biomass plants. At Weiss, which provides 24-7 technical support, there is an increase in sales of service concepts compared to previous years. Evaluating operational performance and securing budgets at Danish heating plants is more important now than ever before. Lack of maintenance of the country’s biomass plants can cause serious operational problems and unexpected expenses for district heating plants. This is known at Ølgod Fjärrvärme, which after a turbulent time with a lack of operational support, has now secured its future operation. In 2006, Ølgod District Heating invested in a biomass plant, but chose not to establish a service agreement with the service provider Weiss. Instead, they bought operational support from another service provider. It turned out to be a bad decision. The plant eventually developed operational problems and in 2017 Ølgod District Heating had to seek advice from Weiss, which is part of the Linka Group.
Strategic spare parts
“There were some errors that Weiss had to correct’a to after the second service provider. Proper maintenance of biomass plants is crucial and requires specific know-how and technical skills. We therefore agreed on fixed operational support and delivery of strategic spare parts, so we can ensure that the facility in Ølgod will receive the necessary technical support in the future – a concept we are experiencing a marked increase in interest in”, says Kenneth Iversen, CEO at Weiss, which provides technical support for Linka Group. Now Ølgod District Heating receives an annual service report from Weiss, which provides an overview of the technical support and the condition of the plant. The service phone is open 24 hours a day, all year round and the technical support of the plant is based on a wide range of expertise, as Weiss knows all the elements of the plant established by its sister company Linka Energy. The fact that technical operational support is crucial to the operation of a biomass plant and a controlled operating economy is no surprise to Linka Group, which establishes biomass plants all over the world. “As one of our group companies has delivered the plant, Weiss can easily and quickly identify all components and provide the necessary technical advice. These include synergies between the establishment, operation and maintenance of biomass plants, which is why we brought the companies Linka Energy, Jernforsen and Weiss into the same group. In this way, we ensure a 360-degree total solution, which not only ensures maintenance decisions, but also future-proofs the operation and gives full financial control to the heating plants”, says Thomas Gaardbo, CEO Linka Group. Weiss, which provides operational support and service for Linka Group’s biomass plants, has a large spare parts and components warehouse in Lem and Hadsund, from where they deliver the spare parts on a day-to-day basis.