Tracing the rise of wood pellet heating in the UK with Mark Stafford from the UK Pellet Council
Mark Stafford from the UK Pellet Council began his professional journey in 1982 as an apprentice at Rolls Royce & Bentley Motor Cars, later earning an Engineering Science degree from the University of Durham before returning to work on Bentley’s first turbocharged engines and global vehicle distribution. His path then led him to senior roles at Aston Martin, Bidcorp plc, and Autokleen Ltd, followed by international consultancy work in Moscow.
In 2010, he shifted gears into the renewables sector, helping build Purple Energy into a leading installer of wood pellet heating systems. Mark joined the UK Pellet Council in 2020 and today he sees his work in renewable heating as a meaningful way to balance out the carbon heavy legacy of his earlier automotive years. In this interview, he reveals all we need to know about the UK pellet market.
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When and how did the use of wood pellets as a heating solution begin in the UK?
Wood pellet production began in the UK in 2002 but only in a small way with manufacturers largely driven by seeking ways to use waste materials such as sawdust. UK 002 Balcas Energy began producing at their site in Enniskillen in 2004 and 22 years later they are still going strong as the UK’s largest producer of ENplus® A1 wood pellets with a second site at Invergordon in Scotland having been commissioned in 2008.
At Purple Energy, our first biomass installation in 2008 was a complete disaster due to a poor-quality boiler as well as a bulk wood pellet delivery that could only be described as lumpy sawdust! Matt Goodwin spent much of the Christmas period that year at the customer’s home in order to try to rectify the faults and keep the system running but without a quality wood pellet those efforts sadly proved to be in vain.
Pellet quality did improve over the next few years, but the step change only came in 2013 with the introduction of ENplus® to the UK and the incorporation a year later of the UK Pellet Council as the ENplus® National Licenser. From two ENplus® certified companies at the end of 2013 we are now almost sixty strong with production having doubled to over 300,000 tonnes and trade increasing five-fold over that same period. Every one of those wood pellets is certified to ENplus® A1 standard!
ENplus® A1 is currently the only wood pellet standard accepted by the UK Government’s Biomass Suppliers List. How was this achieved, and what implications does it have for consumers?
The Biomass Suppliers List (BSL) was first introduced as a consequence of the UK Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) being extended from non-domestic properties to include domestic buildings. Historically, RHI claimants would have to provide a raft of information to Ofgem in order to secure their payments and it was determined that the BSL should take away that administrative burden from both the consumer and the supplier.
Sustainability requirements – both greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions & land criteria – became mandatory in October 2015 but provisions for quality of the biomass fuel listed on the BSL only started being discussed in 2017/18. Matt Goodwin was invited to a series of meetings in Westminster where the wheels of government began turning ever so slowly as the various stakeholders met with civil servants to take the clear desire for a quality requirement to be part of the BSL towards a conclusion that could gain ministerial support.
Some four years later the amendment to the original RHI regulations was passed by parliament and signed into law with the following becoming a legislative requirement from 1st April 2021. According to The DRHI & RHI Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2021 No. 76, Part 3, Chapter 9, Regulation 39, Schedule 4a, Section 2 “All wood pellets must meet the ENplus® A1 standard ….” This means for both domestic and non-domestic customers claiming the RHI, the fuel they use must be listed on the BSL and, in order for wood pellets to be listed on the BSL, they must meet the ENplus® A1 standard.
What is the current state of the UK wood pellet market, and what major trends are shaping it right now?
Whilst home grown ENplus® production has increased by over 15% over the last seven years, trade has remained flat at around 550,000 tonnes over that period. We estimate that the introduction of quality requirements to the BSL has resulted in close to full penetration of ENplus® A1 in the renewable heating market but the minimal growth in new installations combined with some older systems not being replaced is a cause for concern.
At the UKPC we have determined to redouble our efforts to persuade government that the achievements of the RHI are too great to lose and the impact of any move back towards fossil fuel heating will raise the cost of living for working people, reduce energy security and set back the ultimate target of net zero emissions.
The recent rise in heating oil prices following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East has once again highlighted the vulnerability of rural households to global fossil fuel markets. More than 400,000 rural homes across the UK are not connected to the gas grid and are unsuitable for heat pumps. Many of these properties, particularly older and hard-to-heat homes, use heating oil as their default fuel because the range of viable alternatives is limited. For these households, modern wood pellet heating systems represent one of the most practical and readily deployable alternatives. This proven technology uses pellets largely produced from sawmill residues and wood by-products, creating a fully traceable fuel which makes productive use of domestic resources.
What do we need to know about the UK government’s Warm Homes Plan initiative?
Firstly, we welcome the government’s Warm Homes Plan, which promises significant investment in home energy efficiency and low-interest financing to help households decarbonise their heating, though its current design raises important questions about fairness and effectiveness. Under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), the 420,000 rural homes unsuitable for heat pumps will receive £2,500 less support than urban households, creating a clear financial disparity for those living in rural communities that has no policy justification.
Whilst efficient, heat pumps produce a lower temperature heat which is unsuitable for these buildings whereas modern biomass boilers directly replace the existing heat source ‘like for like’ with minimal, if any, changes required to heating or hot water distribution within the property. Not having access to the same level of funding forces rural homeowners to continue burning oil or LPG fuels rather than sustainable biomass such as ENplus® certified wood pellets.
The Warm Homes Plan is a step in the right direction but addressing these rural gaps while focusing on real carbon savings will make it fairer and more effective at reaching decarbonisation goals and achieving energy security. We would welcome increased dialogue with policymakers to refine delivery and have recently engaged again with Members of Parliament whose constituents will benefit most from the perfectly viable alternative of wood pellet heating.