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Pluscarden Abbey’s new boiler delivers hot profit

Brother Michael at Pluscarden Abbey
Brother Michael at Pluscarden Abbey

A new biomass boiler at a secluded Moray monastery is bringing a hot profit to the resident monks.

The new piece of kit was installed at Pluscarden Abbey, near Elgin, at the end of 2012 and is now making about £17,000 a year for its Benedictine order.

It marks a major turnaround in the group’s fortunes – the previous gas-run boiler had been costing them about £40,000 a year to run.

The 22 Benedictine monks at Britain’s only medieval, and oldest, monastery, rise at 4.30am and spend their days in silent prayer and spiritual reading before retiring to their beds at 8.30pm.

Brother Michael De Klerk of the abbey said getting the new boiler was “a non brainer” as it was cheaper, greener and – above all – quieter than the system they had before.

He said: “We had an outlay of between £300,000 to £350,000 to install everything for the biomass boiler.

“We were spending about £40,000 for gas but now we’re only spending about £6,000 on wood so it was really a no-brainer.

“The boiler is metred so every quarter we get about £23,000 from the Renewable Heating Incentive (RHI) scheme.

“Without it we would have gone bust but now we’re actually making a profit.”

Brother Michael said the monks were using the money for “day-to-day” living expenses and are aiming to have paid off their initial payment for the new boiler within five years.

The boiler runs off woodchips and had to be installed in several sections including a wood shed and boiler house.

Brother Michael added: “I think this will secure the future of the abbey for some time to come.”

The abbey, which dates back to 1230, hit the headlines this year when the monks announced plans for a £4million project to restore the fourth and final wing of the building, providing on-site accommodation for female guests for the first time in its history.