Our Biomass Heating Strategy for a Warm Winter

With global rising fuel prices and a shortage of UK haulage drivers, we have all the ingredients for a challenging winter for biomass fuel supply. Add to that the generic supply issues which have been created by the pandemic, and we could face something of a perfect storm.

However, at AMP, we want to reassure our customers that we have put plans in place to counteract these issues, and we feel confident that we can continue to provide reliable and timely biomass heating services this winter.

The escalation in gas prices has impacted across the entire energy market, including biomass. That’s why we locked in our supply contracts very early this year to ensure a robust supply chain. We have also countered the nationwide haulage problem by recruiting more in-house drivers this winter. With our own fleet of vehicles and drivers, we are well placed to serve our customers’ needs and are far less vulnerable to external factors at play.

For our customers on fuel supply agreements, we will continue to provide a five- day delivery timeframe along with guaranteed regular delivery slots throughout the heating season. We will endeavour to meet these timeframes for spot deliveries too, whist obviously prioritising our contract customers.

Plan your Biomass Heating strategy ahead and ensure a reliable fuel supply

At AMP we have done all we can to ensure our customers don’t experience fuel supply issues this winter. However, we are still urging our customers to plan and order ahead, particularly in the peak heating season over Christmas. If it is a particularly cold and harsh winter, advance planning will put you in a great position.

You should also get your boiler serviced or perhaps take up a service and maintenance contract, taking advantage of expert care of your heat installation. You may decide a managed heat service is a good option ahead of the colder weather, meaning fuel supply, service and maintenance and remote monitoring is all wrapped up in one contract.

If you haven’t done so already, now is also the time to consider signing up to a fuel supply agreement providing priority guaranteed delivery. It’s also worth checking levels of wood pellet or chip in your fuel store.

Over the summer months we have continued to invest heavily in wood fuel quality and in digitising our biomass fuel supply business. Enhancements include completing our customer notifications and automated delivery process. This gives our customers complete visibility from the point of order to the receipt of their fuel delivery.

Our wood pellet is ENplus® certified and our wood chip is certified by Woodsure, meaning it meets the highest quality criteria. We have also further upgraded existing regional depots and increased independent inspections of all biomass shipments. An automated logistics system continues to advance quality monitoring, meaning that drivers can immediately feedback quality issues if they come across them on a delivery.

From our perspective we have everything in place for the winter heating system including full stock of good quality, sustainable wood pellet and chip. I am confident that whatever the weather may bring, we will continue to provide top quality and reliable biomass fuel supply to our customers, ensuring a warm and trouble-free winter ahead.

You can find out more about AMP’s fuel supply agreements here and our Service and Maintenance offering here.