Balcas Energy Reviews

4.7 Rating 1,667 Reviews

96 %

of reviewers recommend Balcas Energy

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

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

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“Yet again you have not been able to deliver the full quantity that I ordered. I ordered 3.2 tonnes to allow for a small amount left in the 3.5 tonne hopper and you have only delivered 2..8 tonnes. I cannot see why you were unable to deliver the full amount. In addition to this I find your 7-10 day lead time for delivery unacceptable as it is hard to gauge when my hopper will actually run out.”

Helpful Report

Posted 8 years ago

Your delivery run was shared between 3 customers, with a combined requirement of 12.2 tonnes. The truck holds approx. 14 tonnes. We had more than enough to deliver what you ordered if you could have taken it. Of the other two customers, one took what they ordered, and the other also took less than they ordered. Consequently, the truck had over 2 tonnes left onboard after all the deliveries. There are two possible explanations for what happened: 1. We deliberately supplied less than you ordered even though you could have taken it and despite the fact that we had plenty available, because we like selling less than we could do. 2. You can't tell how much your store holds and its fill level, and keep over-ordering. Common sense says that (2) is the correct explanation, and your comment near enough admits as much: "it is hard to gauge when my hopper will actually run out". But apparently it is our fault that your system does not incorporate one of the most fundamental components required by the industry guidance on wood pellet storage: a proper access hatch (i.e. one that can easily be opened and used for viewing inside at all fill states). And apparently it is also our fault that you installed such a small store that you feel the need to run it to the dregs before ordering. You have used around 2.9 tonnes in 80 days during a coldish winter, i.e. around 36kg per day. If you ordered when you were down to around 800kg (i.e. around one-quarter full), you could be scheduled comfortably for delivery without a rush and without worrying about running out, and take roughly the same quantity as you have been able to take in practice each time. But you seem to feel that you should be able to leave it until you are down to around 5% full (i.e. 5 days' notice at your winter run-rate and store size) before thinking about ordering. We could run enough trucks to make sure that we could deliver to all our customers at short notice in the depths of winter, regardless of the peaks and troughs of their requirements. That level of under-utilisation carries a cost to customers, because the trucks have to be paid for in the limited period that people want heating fuel in the UK (because Brits ignored the advice from Germany to install pellet stores in domestic properties that hold a year's worth of fuel, so that they could be filled up once a year in summer, when deliveries are cheap, readily available, unlikely to be interrupted by bad weather, and when the risks and consquences of letting yourself run really low are much lower). Given those economic realities, a 7-10 day lead-time in high season is very good. It could be reduced, but keeping trucks sitting around waiting for people like you to order at the last minute would exacerbate the under-utilisation and dramatically increase the cost. If you would like to sign up at £500/tonne, we will see what we can do to shorten your lead-time. The trucks and drivers are already drastically under-utilised in summer. You, for instance, took deliveries in Nov, Feb and Apr last winter, and then nothing until the end of Nov 2016. Demand at the winter peaks is roughly four times higher than in the summer troughs. You have chosen to expose yourself to these seasonal variations by installing a store that is too small to insulate yourself against it. Thanks for your review and your custom. You have a legitimate grievance, but not against us. You should take up with your equipment supplier the issue of a fuel-store that is too small for how you would like to operate and which does not incorporate basic features like a proper access hatch. Or you can live with what you have got, and learn to cope with it (e.g. by ordering a bit earlier). What is not reasonable is to blame your fuel supplier for the inadequacies of your installation, and think that somehow we can overcome economic reality (in the winter lead-times) and physical reality (in your store capacity), so that you can get away with buying an inadequate system without having to learn to cope with its limitations.

Posted 8 years ago

“The latest pellet order contains oversize pellets. these block the auto feeder closing down the biomass boiler. every time it blocks the feeder outlet or pipe the blockage needs to be manually cleared and the boiler re set.”

Helpful Report

(Okehampton) - Posted 8 years ago

We are very sorry to hear about the oversize pellets. We will be contacting you for evidence to confirm the problem (e.g. a photo of a long pellet against a ruler). But assuming that it will be confirmed, we wish you had contacted us as soon as you became aware of the problem. Your delivery was in October. You may have had months of this inconvenience. If you had contacted us and demonstrated that you had oversize pellets, that is a clear non-compliance with our specifications, and we would have organised to remove and replace or refund the delivery. We are very grateful that you chose instead to nurse the load through, but you need not have done. Our sales team will be in touch not only to see if you can provide any evidence (so we can take it up with the manufacturer) but also to discuss what we can do to recognise the inconvenience that this has caused.

Posted 8 years ago

“First rate service. Great vehicles and knowledgeable drivers. At last we have found a good service provider!”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Ordered. Delivered. Easy! Top marks for the driver, professional, knowledgable, happy and super careful.”

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(Avonmouth) - Posted 8 years ago

“Thanks good service”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Customer service was fantastic, I had been caught our and ran out of wood pellets. Forever Fuels were brilliant and managed to get me a same day delivery. Would definitely recommend.”

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(Fishburn) - Posted 8 years ago

“Delivered a ton of pellets to wrong address, we then had to spend an hour looking for our order and when we found it then had to spend another 2 hours driving backwards and forwards with the bags to the correct address as it was blocking a neighbours drive and garage.This is unacceptable and to add to this I emailed your company on Tuesday and have still not had a reply. Mrs.S. Barraclough”

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Posted 8 years ago

“It was good to get a delivery with in seven days of the order”

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(East Kilbride) - Posted 8 years ago

“I have had a number of deliveries of pellets from you over the last two years and would like to compliment you on your reliability and the cheerfulness and skill of your tanker drivers. Keep it up!”

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(Avonmouth) - Posted 8 years ago

“Driver very courteous, knew what he was doing, all good!”

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(East Kilbride) - Posted 8 years ago

“First order cancelled and I was Not informed. I had to ring to find out. Told in both occasions that I world be phoned the day before. I received No phone calls. I had to ring on both occasions to find out delivery time. Delivery driver very helpful and friendly, phoned in the morning then an hour prior to delivery. Very nice man :-)”

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(Avonmouth) - Posted 8 years ago

“Another very professional delivery from FF. I was called in advance by the driver telling when he'd be arriving. The pellet store was filled quickly and cleanly. good job”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Very reliable deliveries,telephoned arrival time on the day and pleasant driver”

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(Fishburn) - Posted 8 years ago

“You have a very efficient driver , who is friendly and co-operative, and did what he could to help us .”

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Posted 8 years ago

“Your ordering system both on line and by phone is excellent. Your driver (Vic) is knowledgeable and expert. Painless Nick Parkeronskype's P”

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(East Kilbride) - Posted 8 years ago

“They always aim to help fit us in, no matter how much notice that we give them they always manage to arrange it so that we can have the pellets delivered when we need them. Over the past six months we have had a couple of problems with our biomass boiler and the team at Forever could not have been any more helpful! Really pleased with the service that we get from our Account Manager (Lee) down to our Driver (Mark), couldn't ask for better! Thank you! Caron Hughes (very happy customer)”

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(Middlewich) - Posted 8 years ago

“emailed me day after order to confirm delivery date . Phoned the day of delivery to let me know delivery would be aprox, 12.30 to 1pm. turned up at 12.45 . How good is that !!!!Brilliant driver - very friendly , helpful and professional . Straight to work and left everything tidy when he finished .”

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(Avonmouth) - Posted 8 years ago

“Very helpful delivery staff and scheduling.”

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(Fishburn) - Posted 8 years ago

“Friendly and efficient from office and delivery teams”

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(Fishburn) - Posted 8 years ago

“Very efficient and courteous service as always.”

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(Middlewich) - Posted 8 years ago

Balcas Energy is rated 4.7 based on 1,667 reviews