Thames Timber

Thames Timber (Southern Cross Forests Products) replace lpg with wood and save millions
Description of facility: 

When Southern Cross Forest Products saw their LPG bill spiralling upward by hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, Living Energy stepped in with a proposal for two pile-bed Bio-T burners to take the financial sting out of kiln drying at the Thames Timber Sawmill. Fabricated by Visdamax of Malaysia, Living Energy worked with the Visdamax team to install two 4.4MW burners and over 1000m3 of fuel storage at the site on the edge of Thames in New Zealand.

Fuelled by a mixture of wet sawdust from the sawlines, as well as hogged offcuts and planer shavings from the adjacent remanufacturing plant, the 8.8MW energy centre is the backbone of Thames Timber’s operations and the only source of heat energy at the mill.

Low emissions and the small footprint of the Bio-T solution were key in helping Living Energy and Visdamax secure this contract. Savings of over $1m per year have been achieved by the boilers, which have been operating since mid 2007.

Facility type: 
Heat
Application: 
Wood Processing Plant
Technology type: 
Conventional Combustion
Fuel/Feedstock: 
Wood Processing Residue
Primary Output: 
Heat
Co-generation: 
No
Address: 
State Highway 26, Kopu, Waikato
Region: 
Central North Island
Geo Location: 
Owner: 
Thames Timber (Southern Cross Forest Products)
Equipment supplier: 
Living Energy