Aecherli Holz AG , Regensdorf ZH, Switzerland

Published: Last updated:

Sawmill with tradition, innovation and sustainability

For more than 50 years and over three generations, Aecherli Holz has grown into a modern family business offering a wide range of products and services related to wood. For over 30 years, Aecherli Holz has also had a wood heating plant on its premises, which supplies the sawmill and the district heating network in Regensdorf with heat.

Wood is a renewable raw material that takes time. This makes it all the more important to treat wood and nature sustainably. We offer various wood processing services and have a lot of bark and residual wood from the sawmill. It makes sense to use this “waste” for heat instead of having it transported away by truck. This is expensive and does little for the environment. With the wood chip heating system, we have made optimum use of our residual wood for CO2 -neutral energy generation.

Owner and Managing Director, P. Aecherli AG

Warehouse becomes district heating center

In 1994, the world had yet to be won over to the idea of district heating from wood. Paul Aecherli, on the other hand, had long been fascinated by this possibility and the wooden storage shed on the Aecherli site was turned into a district heating center.

 

Once ridiculed – now systemically relevant for Regensdorf

Paul Aecherli had the idea of using residual wood sustainably and wanted to try something new. In Hans-Jürg Schmid, he had found a partner who was equally interested in renewable energy and district heating. Aecherli’s district heating network was already being supplied by two Schmid boilers, each with a capacity of 1800 kW. At the time, this size of Boiler was not yet standard for Schmid. Accordingly, the project was a challenge that Hans-Jürg Schmid took on with great pleasure.

The size of the wood chip silo was also larger at 2000m3 , which is still proving its worth today. Fresh Wood chips can be dried to achieve a better calorific value.

Over the years, P. Aecherli AG was able to convince more customers to purchase district heating. The capacity already had to be increased in 2015. An 1800 kW Boiler was replaced with a Schmid UTSR-2400 furnace. Today, it is impossible to imagine Regensdorf’s energy supply without the district heating center. In November 2023, another Schmid Boiler, a UTSR-4600 visio, was put into operation.

Why did you choose Schmid again?

«The selection of efficient, reliable and robust boilers on the market is small, Schmid’s service is top-notch and our experience has always been very good. That’s why it was clear to us that we would use a Schmid Boiler again,» Celine Hartmann-Aecherli tells us.

A mammoth project during ongoing operations and successful thanks to 30 years of experience

In addition to planning and financing the new boiler house, maintaining and further developing the sawmill operations during the conversion work was a major challenge. Thanks to many years of cooperation with Aecherli, Schmid and the planning engineer Roger Balmer, many hurdles were overcome and the plant was put into operation on schedule.

Paul Aecherli is a “doer” and lives for his projects. Those around him sense this in direct words and everyone knows what’s going on. The family fondue get-together, where all the trades are allowed to be present, is never missing and Paul’s sense of humor is omnipresent. I really appreciate working with Paul Aecherli. We always knew exactly what was going on. Thank you for the always friendly and unforgettable collaboration.” Stefan Neff, Team Leader After Sales Field Service.

Stefan Neff, Teamleader After Sales Field Service

Kurzinfo

Boiler type: Moving grate combustion system UTSR-4600 visio
Control unit: PersonalTouch visio
Combustion control:Revolution adaptive with remote access
Fuel: residual wood and forest maintenance wood
Capacity: 4600 kW (total with existing boilers 8,800 kW)
Use: Local and district heating
Discharge and silo: Loading and unloading conveyor and Moving floor consisting
Flue gas dedusting: multi-cyclone / dry electrostatic precipitator from IS SaveEnergy
Commissioning: October 2023
Building contractor: P. Aecherli Fernwärme AG, Regensdorf
Installation site: Aecherli Holz, Regensdorf
Project planning: Roger Balmer, pem-gmbh.com