Case Studies
Crown Estate - Windsor Great Park Biomass Technologies
The Crown Estate is a diverse business that manages property owned by the Crown. In towns it includes commercial and retail properties.
In the country, there is agricultural land, parkland and forestry, but it also manages shopping centres, business parks, farms and housing. It is responsible for more than half the foreshore and almost all of the seabed around the UK.
Having previously assessed a number of biomass energy production technologies, The Crown Estate, Windsor approached Rolton Group to further its analysis of the viability of using wood from its managed forestry to create energy for Windsor Great Park village.
The village consists of about 60 dwellings, a small sports facility the Estate offices, and a farm, situated within the 2,200-hectare park.
This report considered a number of biomass-fuelled technologies and assessed them under criteria set out by The Crown Estate Windsor. In line with the client’s aims, any technology deployed had to be "appropriate, ethical and robust in its operation and deployment."
The resulting study included a review of available technologies, including their strengths and weaknesses, and a cost analysis of each technology to determine whether the scheme had a strong business case on commercial terms.