Balcas Energy Reviews

4.7 Rating 1,665 Reviews
96 %
of reviewers recommend Balcas Energy
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About Balcas Energy:

Balcas Energy is part of Balcas, a natural leader in the world of timber.
We opened our first sawmill in 1962 and became one of the largest in the UK and Ireland. Our success came from our knowledge of and respect for timber. In our quest to make the most of every precious tree, Balcas Energy was born.

A co-product of our operations is pure sawdust. In 2004, using natural tree resin as a binder, our engineers pioneered the production of high quality wood pellets.

Originally known as brites, our high grade EN plus pellets have since grown to become 50% of our business. In 2016, Balcas purchased the UK’s largest wood pellet distribution company Forever Fuels and in 2019, with growth in mind, rebranded as Balcas Energy. Balcas Energy is proud to employ some of the most experienced biomass experts in the UK and Ireland and thanks to our advanced Combined Heat and Power plant, both of our production sites are self-sufficient.

Balcas Energy’s Invergordon and Enniskillen sites have production capacities of 120,000 tonnes and 60,000 tonnes of wood pellets respectively. Our operations are so efficient that we put surplus electricity back into the grid throughout the year.

Balcas employs over 380 people and an additional 300 are engaged in forest harvesting and haulage on our behalf.

Visit our Online Shop: https://balcasenergy.com/online-shop/

Visit Website

Phone:

02866411001

Email:

energy@balcas.com

Location:

75 Killadeas Road, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh
BT94 2ES

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Balcas Energy 5 star review on 9th February 2022
Anonymous
Balcas Energy 5 star review on 26th January 2022
Martin O
Balcas Energy 5 star review on 17th January 2022
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Balcas Energy 5 star review on 13th January 2022
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Balcas Energy 5 star review on 7th November 2017
Carney T
Balcas Energy 5 star review on 21st June 2017
Trevor R
Balcas Energy 5 star review on 23rd April 2017
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Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
The driver was excellent, and delivered as required, although oddly we fitted 400kg less fuel in the tank this time than the first time and it was empty. The low rating is because when the order was requested I spoke to a lady in the office who said delivery could be made on the Tuesday. Later that day I got a confirmation for the Thursday and after calling to check I was told the Tuesday was not possible, despite it being promised earlier the same day on the phone. The delivery was still made within a week which is acceptable, but don't over promise and under deliver. Regards, James
Helpful Report
Posted 7 years ago
Dear James Leading up to the Christmas period is our busiest time of year as you can imagine, with lead times of 7+ working days. I am pleased you received your delivery within 4 workings days of ordering and have pellets for the Christmas period. Kind regards Claire Hoyles Sales and Marketing Manager Kindest regards
Posted 7 years ago
you emailed me 2 weeks ago to say a lorry was in my area and did i want a delivery. I called and had a long discussion eg re type of lorry and agreed a delivery date and amount. you didn't turn up. My boiler failed on me ;last week and the engineer found intake pipe blocked by a very long (2") pellet. Otherwise you have been pretty good!
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Posted 7 years ago
I changed from my existing supplier to Forever fuels for 2 reasons. I wanted 12.5 K bagged pellets as the 15 K bags were a bit heavy, and based on the glowing reviews which appear here. I paid the amount due after opening an account and waited for my confirmation that delivery would be on the appointed day. At around 4pm I sent an email as,img when mydelivery would be effected-no response! I telephoned next morning and after investigating was told " the couriers did not have a suitable vehicle" the delivery was eventually made the following when my existing stock of bags was down to one. Is this a "one-off" or do I give FF another chance? The pellets are also more expensive than my previous supplier. Not a good experience for a new customer
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Posted 7 years ago
Delivery date mix up and over a week late Three times I was promised that someone would call me back-and they failed to do so - even unacceptable news is better than No contact at all Plus side Delivery on the day was prompt - more than efficient driver in Phil - Professional delivery but office customer service lets the whole experience down
Helpful Report
(East Kilbride) - Posted 7 years ago
Dear George, Many thanks for taking the time to feedback the issues you experienced when placing your order. We are pleased that you were happy with the delivery itself and the service that you received from Phil. Please accept our apologies for the lack of communication you received from placing your order until notification of your delivery date. We pride ourselves on our customer service. Your feedback will be used in our continual process of review and improvement. Once again, please accept our apologies. Kind regards Claire Hoyles Sales and Marketing Manager
Posted 7 years ago
Dusty and /0r over sized pellet blocking delivery pipe from hopper to biomass
Helpful Report
(East Kilbride) - Posted 7 years ago
I'm not sure what normal is? We are new to biomass and ordered a pallet of pellets from you for commissioning. Our installer had the boiler up to temperature using his own pellet stock and we relied on your delivery to keep it going. The delivery failed to arrive that Friday so the boiler went out over the weekend so we had to switch back to oil. We have since ordered our first 9 tonne delivery but it was a frustrating process as no-one seemed to know what day it would be delivered - after about six phone calls (aided by a helpful lady on the desk) we eventually had the order confirmed. As a new customer I can't say we were very impressed. We have 9 properties to run off our system so will probably be spending a fair bit over the next 30 years…..
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Posted 7 years ago
I have been using this company purely because there depot is local to me so cut down on costs. I am becomming more disalusioned with the quality of the product they are delivering and excuses they come up with. i regularily clean my store out before every delivery i take so prior to my last order October 2105 i cleaned it out spotless not a shred of dust. Six tonnes delivered. i was away at work so cannot comment on how it was delivered into my store. looking into the store through the inspection window one can tell if the QA of the pellets are good.(could see alot of dust/fines) decanting pellets into my coal scuttle to fill up my pellet fires i began getting a high proportion of dust. Had issues with my fillomatic system for the boiler lines choked with dust. the latest is the boiler burner blast tube has cracked the reason the airflow holes within choked with carbonised dust. My last weekend at home was taken up by starteing to clean out one side of my store manually shifting aprox 1000kg of pellets and collecting samples. my approximate results based on none scientific reasoning is 70kg of dust/ 1000kg of pellets eqates to 7%. If this is uniform across my whole load then i am buying 420kg of dust plus all the other knock on issues. To claim my RHI i have to purchase from accredited suppliers but what comeback do i have if the quality is frankly poor. Are they sampling properly as they load the tanker, are they blowing it too hard when delivering and shatering the pellets. its only two pipe lengthe and one soft bend to my store.
Helpful Report
Posted 8 years ago
See my letter. Most of the sacks of pellets delivered were split and/or holed, very difficult to handle without spillage, loss of pellets and high risk of contamination. I do not believe the carrier is to blame for this, it looks as if the damage took place during storage. You must improve quality control. Most of the holes look as if they have been made by mice or rats. M. Barran
Helpful Report
(Bags) - Posted 8 years ago
Dear Mr Barran, All Forever Fuels product under go a full quality control check before being despatched from our depots onto our subcontracted Hauliers. We would not have sent out a pallet in the state to which you describe and have looked into this with the hauliers who signed for this pallet stating they receives this in pristine condition. Unfortunately there is little we can do regarding this as you have also signed their POD to accept delivery of these pallets stating that you received them in Good Order and Condition. In future if you are ever in doubt regarding the condition of your delivered pallet please do give us a call straight away before signing this declaration and we will work hard to sort this for you. I hope this clarify's our quality control process at Forever Fuels. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact us. We at Forever Fuels wish you a Merry Xmas!
Posted 8 years ago
We have used Forever Fuels before for our blown pellet deliveries and have never experienced problems before. However, we will be making a complaint following today's visit. The boiler room was left very untidy with pellets strewn all over the floor and the driver has evidently trodden on (and broken!) a copper pipe leading from the water tank which has caused a leak. He didn't report the problem and we only discovered it after the driver had left. We feel better communication from the driver would have resulted in a better opinion of the experience and the company.
Helpful Report
Posted 8 years ago
Firstly, on behalf of Forever Fuels I would like to apologise for the issues that occurred during the delivery on the 1st of December. As per email correspondence we will endeavour to put right the issues caused. An internal review will be undertaken to avoid such incidents reoccurring. I hope you find our response to this issue suitable and look forward to working with you in the future.
Posted 8 years ago
i do not understand why you did not deliver 4.5 tons as we had completly run out 2 days before and it holds just under 5 tons and you have delivered 4.5 tons before . chris
Helpful Report
Posted 8 years ago
Dear Mr. Main, I can understand that if you ran out of fuel, prior to receiving your delivery, you would be keen to fill the fuel store to its maximum capacity. Our driver did actually fill your store to capacity and I think if you have a read, over some of the points below, it may shine some light on the situation. Seven of the past nine deliveries you have had from us have been for four tonnes. Only two deliveries have ever been for more. The most recent delivery was for an amount of 4.3 tonnes and one back in March at 4.5 tonnes. If we discount the four tonne drops, as you most likely had fuel in the store, we can focus on the two larger deliveries and why five tonnes has never been delivered yet. You may or may not be aware that there are acceptable parameters for ENPlus quality fuel regarding bulk density. The range is from 600 - 750kg/m3. If we imagine a store that has a realistic capacity of 6.7m3 then at 700kg/m3, it will hold 4.69 tonnes. As the bulk density changes to 620kg/m3, it will hold 4.16 tonnes while 4.3 tonnes would be expected to fit at 642 kg/m3. You can see that as the bulk density changes the tonnage that can be contained in your store also changes accordingly. I should point out that it has been our experience that the stated value in some fuel stores is very rarely or never achieved. Nameplate capacities indicating “X” tonnes of storage have been known to err generously on the optimistic side; calculated using a beneficial bulk density to total volume without properly considering if complete volume can be achieved using the positioning of the fixed pipes. As you can imagine, when dealing with a solid fuel, it is very unlikely that every conceivable space in a fuel store is utilised. One of the many great attributes of our specialised tankers is that you know exactly what has been delivered due to the Legal for Trade weigh-loaders; a risk that you have eliminated by choosing to receive a fuel supply from us. Under our simplified pricing structure you were able to save £32, by only getting charged for what you took, not what you ordered. As Forever Fuels continues to grow and lead the market we aim to provide the same high levels of service and top quality product for the best possible price. That is why when we compare your order this time last year to today there has been a drop in the overall price by about 5.6%; which equates to a saving of £52.46. Kind regards Deborah Bell Account Manager (North East)
Posted 8 years ago
Balcas Energy is rated 4.7 based on 1,665 reviews