WOODCHIPS will fuel a village in the Stroud valleys providing enough power to heat and supply hot water for at least 25 homes.

The two new 320 kilowatt biomass boilers in Miserden will also heat the Carpenters Arms pub, the village hall, the shop, the primary school and two other commercial properties.

The Wills family, who have been custodians of Miserden Estate for over 100 years, are behind the radical project. Their ownership extends to almost 3,000 acres and includes the majority of the village of Miserden.

They run the Estate with the aim to “place a strong emphasis on preserving and enhancing the environment and supporting a vibrant rural community.”

The pioneering biomass project will be powered by woodchips from the Estate’s woodland. Biomass energy is biological material from plants or animals.

A team of specialists from Strutt & Parker, the property consultants that manage the Estate, have anticipated that the two biomass boilers will require 450 tonnes of woodchip each year – the weight of about 60 elephants.

To supplement the long-term supply of timber the Estate is working with the Forestry Commission to create 26.5 acres of new woodland on the Estate – about the equivalent of two Polo fields.

Oliver Cooper, land agent at Strutt & Parker said: “The intention is to plant a mixed species of trees that will take 10 years to reach a maturity when they can be harvested for the biomass boiler.

“This is only intended as an extra buffer to supplement the wood that will be extracted from the Estate’s existing woodland.

“The woodchip will be a bi-product of the existing management of the woodland on the Estate, with all of the low value timber being extracted, dried and then chipped ready for burning in the boiler.

“From the boiler house a series of hot water pipes are currently being laid around the village connecting to each property.

“Each property’s boiler will then be removed and replaced with a compact Heat Exchange Unit, which will mean the properties can maintain their existing central heating systems but instead of getting their heat from oil fuelled boilers they will get it from the hot water produced from the biomass unit.

“This is an exciting and pioneering project in its scale and organisation.

“It will help to reduce the carbon footprint of the village and will provide heat to the properties at a cost lower than the price of oil.

“The Estate is offering the sale of heat at a price that is lower than the equivalent cost of generating heat from oil, therefore we would anticipate a strong uptake from local residents and businesses.”

A new company, Miserden Energy Limited, has been set up that will fund, own and operate the heating scheme. Energy Innovations, a supplier of wood pellet and woodchip boilers, is building the facility.

A little further afield between Gloucester and Cirencester owner of Withington Estate, Bruno Brenninkmeijer, installed a 199kW biomass boiler in 2012.

The woodchip-fuelled heating system provides heating and hot water for the Estate and nine tenants.

Bruno is very pleased with the outcome of the project and said: “For us it was relatively easy, our contractor was responsible for everything so it helped that we only had one person.

“We had very good advice and we spent a lot of time planning to do it.

“I did it primarily because we had to replace four or five oil boilers so that gave us the impetus and we had the woodland so it made logical sense.

“It is more straightforward than having to deal with oil and of course environmentally that makes a huge difference.”

Back at the Miserden Estate if building goes according to schedule the first houses will be connected to the scheme before the end of March. The project is expected to be completed by the late summer.

Commenting on the difficulties he and his team have had to overcome in the project so far Oliver said: “There have been many challenges for the project right from the outset, but the principal challenge has been the scale of the project for the Estate as it is a much larger project than the Estate has previously taken on.”

Meanwhile the Estate has confirmed that there will be no disturbance to the gardens which will be open as usual.