Providing a level of service and charging that
meets your customer's needs is essential to a successful wood fuel
supply business.
Package of services
What additional services can you provide? For example, regular
maintenance, de-ashing of wood fuel boilers etc.
Energy services companies
(ESCos) provide a complete package of turnkey installation,
maintenance and fuel supply. This requires a large amount of
capital, construction and building services expertise, and a
guaranteed long-term fuel price.
Communication
Effective communication between the end user, fuel supplier and
boiler installer is critical to ensure a good understanding of
mutual requirements and how they translate into technical and
practical terms.
Charging and contracts
Consider how you are going to charge your customers - by the
tonne or per kWh? Heat contracts based upon a payment per kilowatt
hour of heat delivered provide a better service for customers, as
they are paying for the heat used without needing to monitor
variations in the fuel supply.
The fuel supply contract should specify the exact fuel
requirements (e.g. particle size, ash and moisture content) of the
system you are supplying for.