Drottningholm Palace
Royal recipe for energy saving
Climate change affects everyone – even royalty. Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm, home of Sweden’s royal family, has reduced CO₂ emissions by 90 percent and cut costs by switching to a pellets-based heating system.
Phasing out oil
Keeping old buildings warm – especially an 8,000 square metre 17th century palace – is an expensive business. Until a few years ago, Drottningholm Palace, official residence of Sweden’s royal family, relied on fuel oil for two-thirds of its heating needs.
But rising oil prices and a radical government programme to cut Swedish fossil fuel dependency spurred the palace management to find a greener – and cheaper – energy source.
Since 2006, the residence has a modern biofuel plant combining a wood pellet-fired boiler and small-scale district heating grid. The system also connects to two water-source heat pumps for maximum flexibility.
Heating bills halved
The new setup has enabled the palace to abandon fuel oil in favour of renewable energy and move towards climate neutrality. Biofuel, primarily wood pellets but also with some rapeseed oil, now meets 92 percent of the palace’s energy needs.
Annual heating bills have been cut by SEK 1.4 million – or 50 percent – and carbon dioxide emissions are down by 90 percent. It used to take 260 cubic metres of fuel oil to heat the palace – a figure that has fallen to 15 cubic metres since 2006. The aim is to phase out oil-fired heating completely.
Lower costs and emissions
The biofuel technology, supplied by Halmstad-based Järnforsen Energi System, has cut electricity use from 1,300 MWh to 270 MWh. It provides renewable energy to the entire palace and also serves the surrounding area, including 23 different buildings and a nearby research centre.