Frequently Asked Questions about developing Renewable Energy Project
Q. Does using a consultant increase cost of project?
A. It does increase costs in the early stages of a project, but applying experience, technical knowledge and best practice design almost always results in capital cost savings and increased returns over the system lifetime.
Q. What is the cost of a consulting engineer?
A. Depending on the level of the role it can be up to 5% of project costs, however, we have proven many times over that with good design, tendering and value engineering the capital cost saving alone makes the fees look small in comparison.
Q. Why do I hear about so many poorly performing biomass boilers?
A. Poor reliability or high operating costs of a biomass heating system is not generally due to a fault with the biomass boiler itself, but more likely to be a fault with the way the boiler installation was designed. Well designed systems conforming to best practice have been proven to deliver significant CO2 savings and a strong business case.
Q. Why use a Client's Engineer for my biomass boiler installation?
A. Integrating a biomass heating system with the building services is not the same as for a conventional fossil fuel boiler; there are many more considerations and potential issues, so it is important to design, specify, tender, value engineer and oversee installation to ensure a successful project - a 'Client's Engineer' will enable you to do this.
Q. Why pay for design and tendering when a supplier will include the plant design and specification in the overall costs for my project?
A. Suppliers may build design costs into the project, but as income is generated by the ongoing maintenance and service of the plant, there isn't much incentive to design the plant to minimise these costs.
Q. Will the FIT and RHI ensure the financial case for my renewable energy project?
A. These incentive schemes certainly boost financial returns but do not guarantee the plant will be financially viable as a system that fails to generate the expected output will not benefit from the incentive levels intended.
Please e-mail info@sustainable-energy.co.uk with your enquiry
