Alsco has commissioned a state-of-the-art production facility in Richmond which stems from the amalgamation of two existing facilities in Nelson and Motueka.
The site will operate on locally sourced wood pellet from a biomass supplier, Azwood, for process heat. This ensures that the process heat on-site is carbon neutral.
The new plant in Richmond allowed Alsco to decommission two old and inefficient facilities in Nelson and Motueka. The latter of which used a diesel boiler for process heat. The decommissioning of the diesel-fired boiler in conjunction with the installation of a new Continuous Batch Washer (CBW) system ensures the production facility has the potential to be the most energy and carbon-efficient laundry in New Zealand.
Additionally, the increased floor space area enables better machinery and equipment management and configuration, reduced health and safety risk, and fosters a more efficient and comfortable work environment.
We use local, high-quality, high-calorific-value wood pellets to produce the energy to operate our laundry systems. Early signs of energy and carbon savings are positive, with energy savings down 25% overall, and annual carbon saving down 50% when compared to the two old inefficient plants. A full benefit analysis will be carried out once the plant has been in operation for 12-months.
The site sets a precedent for other sites/laundries that are looking to transition to biomass.
