National Green Energy Awards’ recognition for Okehampton firm
Judges have this week announced Okehampton-based business Forest Fuels as a finalist in their inaugural national Green Energy Awards.
The news follows 12 months of dramatic developments at Forest Fuels, which started life 11 years ago at a single location on a farm in Devon. Now, with 45 depots across the UK and a turnover of more than £20 million per annum, the biomass woodfuel distribution firm has been successful in developing an environmental business that can compete alongside fossil-fuel suppliers.
“This is exciting news,” said Peter Solly, managing director of Forest Fuels, “and I’m thrilled that we have been recognised on a national level for the first-rate local service we provide. We’re very proud of the fact that – through each period of our growth – Forest Fuels has preserved our local roots and continued to offer high-quality and reliability in all regions of the UK.”
Now in their 14th year, the Green Energy Awards celebrate the exciting projects and great companies that are driving forward the smart and sustainable energy revolution. This is the first year that the Green Energy Awards have accepted nominations from across the whole of the UK.
Forest Fuels has had an exceptionally successful 2017 and impressed judges with a whole range of initiatives, including acquiring other regional operators, providing in-depth training for staff, delivering industry-leading projects, and fundraising for local community organisations
Peter added: “Over the past twelve months Forest Fuels has taken huge strides forward, rolling out our successful model nationally and deliberately building a business that doesn’t have to rely on subsidies or be affected by government policy changes. We’ve continued our mission to ensure that the biomass industry can match and even surpasses the service that traditional energy suppliers provide, proving that heating your home or business using biomass can now be simple, professional and fully-automated.”
Some of the measures that Forest Fuels has developed over the past 12 months include:
- Developing its commercial biomass ‘boiler buy back’ scheme, where Forest Fuels ‘buys back’ the boiler (giving the organisation a lump sum) looks after the upkeep, servicing, maintenance and fuel delivery and the customer simply buys the heat
- Fully-funded Energy Supply Contracts (ESCOs), which sees Forest Fuels paying the high-capital-cost of installing the biomass boiler and providing the customer with a fully maintained, hassle free solution.
- Opening new, high-technology depots, including one at Liverpool’s Albert Docks, which holds ten times as many pellets as the previous facility did and includes rigorous quality controls.
- Developing its Fuel Usage Monitoring System: a small gadget that enables accurate fuel usage monitoring and automated deliveries.
The overall winner of the Green Energy Award for Sustainable Energy Installer of the Year will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony at Bath’s historic Assembly Rooms on 28 November 2017.
