Fort Bakkerskil (The Netherlands): A wood-fired guest house

An increased use of renewable energy
Today, the New Dutch Waterline forts are being used in different ways: interpretation centre, guest house, congress and reception... Several of them use renewable energy, mainly wood and geothermal heating.

A local resource recycled
Fort Bakkerskil, owned by Brabants landschap, was reconverted several years ago into a delightful guest house. Brabants landschap handed over the fort to the users in turnkey mode: restored, fitted out and equipped with a woodchip boiler installed in a recently built shed adjacent to the main building of the fort. This fuel was chosen due to the lack of alternative energy sources nearby. It comes from a nature reserve situated a few kilometres from the fort, managed by Brabants landschap. A company specialising in this field packs the wood chips before selling them to the users who are trained to be able to deal with problems related to the boiler. The wood chips are stored in a recently built shed close to the main building that also houses the boiler. All the developments and installations are reversible in order to anticipate possible changes in terms of usage in the future.