Energy infrastructure

medoc

Offaly County Council has granted permission to Bord Na Mona for the continued use of Edenderry Power on biomas.

It will probably be appealed and the station has permission to continue until the end on 2023 on a peat/biomas mix.

https://www.eplanning.ie/OffalyCC/AppFileRefDetails/21291/0

Markcheese

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118855575#Comment_118855575

There's a list of things you can/ could do ,and it depends on the house -

I'm going to get external insulation and new doors and windows - ( solid walls ,old aluminum doors and windows ) eventually..

I won't get a heat pump until my gas boiler dies ,

At some point I'll install mhrv

Markcheese

No one will force you to get a heat pump - or do a deep retrofit ( whatever that is ),

But the cost of fuel is going up - inexorably..

You can have a big retrofit bill , and use a lot less of very expensive gas ,or expensive oil , or wood - or electricity...

Or you don't do the retrofit , and just pay the bills ...

josip

My understanding of the standing charge, gas/lecky, that it covers the cost of maintaining the grid? Maybe I'm naiive.

If 50% of gas customers migrate away from gas to heat pumps/etc, won't the standing charge double for the remaining customers?

Which would further accelerate the migration of customers away from gas, as non-gas alternatives became more economically unviable?

In that scenario, would the state step in to subsidise or would the gas network revert to business only customers.

Eg by 2035, any housing estate with less than 5 customers will be disconnected from the existing grid.

Ed: In 2019 there were 705,868 gas customers in Ireland. GNI say that they currently have 'over 706,000' customers so it looks like customer numbers have now plateaued/peaked and will decline from here on.

RandomViewer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118860956#Comment_118860956

There will be a lot of people who won't be able to do either, what happens to them,

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118862569#Comment_118862569

Well first of all I know many council authorities are refurbishing old council homes stock, so that would tend to help the least well off.

Then there is this scheme:

Energy upgrades for homeowners on low incomes (Better Energy Warmer Homes Scheme)

https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/free-upgrades-for-eligible-homes/

antoinolachtnai

A lot of the building stock is in a poor state and needs renovation. Buildings don’t last forever, they need significant investment.

retrofitting to reduce energy use is just part of reinvestment in buildings. Heritage properties are a special case and need different treatment but there are so few of these that it’s not that significant.

ricimaki

Here's an online event some of you may be interested in. Tuesday April 5th, 7-8PM on zoom. Registration required to join:

World’s Largest Flywheel – How Moneypoint is leading the world in increasing renewable penetration on electrical grids

A technical discussion on the synchronous condenser that Siemens Energy will supply to ESB - the first in the country incorporating the world’s largest flywheel used for grid stability. This will be a key component of ESB’s Green Atlantic @ Moneypoint project - an ambitious plan to transform the County Clare site into a green energy hub.

Description

The facility will enable an increased integration of wind power into the Irish grid by providing sufficient inertia for frequency support, short-circuit power for system strength and reactive power for voltage control.

This is a joint event with the Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Electrical divisions.

About our speakers

Ralph Morgenstern is a Senior Sales Manager for Grid Stabilization including FACTS at Siemens Energy and is the Country Coordinator for Ireland and UK for grid stabilization projects.  He has more than 20 years' experience with Siemens in high voltage and FACTS projects. He acts as an interface from Ireland and the UK to the HQ of Siemens Energy in Germany in all technical aspects of grid stabilization projects.

Seamus Howard is the Head of Grid Stabilization for Siemens Energy Ireland. He has worked in various roles with multiple technologies in the energy sector for the last 12 years. As part of the Siemens Energy Ireland Executive team, he collaborates with other Business Unit leaders, developing projects contributing towards Ireland's Net Zero goals.

https://www.engineersireland.ie/Events/event/8178

RandomViewer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118862900#Comment_118862900

Warmer homes has a 2 year waiting list and they do the bare minimum, my mother got it done about 4 years ago, 1970s house, Pvc Windows and Doors were fitted in 1993 and passed as okay, rads and oil burner the same, Big solid fuel range from 2004 was also passed,All they did was put some insulation in the attic, a few vents in the roof and a lagging jacket on the copper cylinder, they put a vent in the living room wall but she had to get that closed off as it whistled when the wind blew. Wasn't any real difference in heat before or after.

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118866476#Comment_118866476

Almost same here. The only thing their assessment suggested was more insulation in the attic.

But the attic is 3/4 floored and in constant use for storage (insulated underneath) and they wanted all that taken up and not used for storage.

They were getting a bit pushy with my mam to sign up so my brother and I told them to go away.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118866586#Comment_118866586

I have attic insulation at the moment but I'm planning on taking it all out (its almost 20 years old) and replacing it and will be flooring the attic for storage after that. Regardless of the volume of insulation, the attic can still be used for storage unless its a very shallow attic to begin with

A breakdown of some of the costs on a typical Irish electric bill and whats behind some of those costs

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/time-to-take-responsibility-for-our-electricity-prices-1.4836048

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118866773#Comment_118866773

1960s build, couldn't say exactly what height the joists were, but I'd guess 6 inches. The installers were insisting on at least 9 inches all around including above the joists so the floor couldn't be put back.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118866958#Comment_118866958

Yeah thats what I'll be doing. The floor is just raised above the increased insulation. This is not unusual and is exactly what I am planning to do

Don't ask me the specifics of how its done as I haven't a clue, I'm planning on getting a contractor as I want a Stira fitted and power run to the attic and a few other bits and I'm not handy enough for half of it

Apogee

Applications for temporary generators at North Wall and Huntstown submitted to ABP.

https://www.thejournal.ie/emergency-electricity-generators-dublin-5727795-Apr2022/

specialbyte

The 500MW Greenlink Interconnector between Ireland and Wales has reached financial close and has started construction work. (Source) They hope to have the project completed by the end of 2024, which is pretty soon.

The interconnector will connect to the grid at Great Island in Wexford. Great Island currently has a 480MW gas powered power plant and three 220kv transmission lines leave the site along the east and south coasts.

It's great to see this project advancing. It will be key towards us expanding renewables and reducing our carbon footprint.

Hopefully, we'll see the 700MW Celtic Interconnector between Cork and France achieve it's remaining permits and planning permission from ABP and likewise start construction soon.

gjim

Hmmm. A blog dedicated to the idea that we're making a big mistake not burning more oil for energy, expresses skeptical views about the viability renewables....🤔

I don't have time to refute all of it, it's so full of half-truths and disingenuous lies. It's a perfect example of Brandolini's Law - "The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude larger than to produce it."

But to take one obvious lie - the China claim that you re-state. Blaming a windless summer for the rolling blackouts is complete bs. Just google "China rolling blackouts". For one thing, wind is a tiny component of Chinese electricity - about 6% in 2020 - because they went all-in on "cheap dispatchable coal" as a strategic decision - so now nearly 60% of their electricity comes from coal. The reason for the rolling blackouts is completely understood and known by absolutely everyone; it was caused by a huge contraction in COAL generation caused by fuel supply issues and a severe spike in coal prices - in an electricity market where the price that a generator can charge for wholesale electricity is capped.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118854134#Comment_118854134

A wind farm can be refurbished for a fraction of the initial cost. So you can get 15-20 years more for peanuts. Probably cheaper than extending a nuclear power plants licence ignoring how many nukes need maintenance due to corrosion.

Sam Russell

Current wind generation is 50MW, compared with max all time to date of 4,489 MW. That is just over 1% of the all time high.

I never realised just how variable wind generation is - and how protracted lulls can be.

This is a major concern if we hope to even get to 80% reliance, and 100% is for the birds. We need other forms of renewables for when the wind does not blow.

We need to insulate homes and buildings to a very high degree over the next decade. Plus we need to be able to shed load in a planned way when demand exceeds supply - data centres, we are looking at you!

gjim

By the way, it was these sort of blogs and articles that paradoxically slowly turned me from being adamantly skeptical about renewables a few years ago. Anytime I followed up on claims I'd read in articles like this (I did this so I'd be "better informed" to be able to counter the renewables boosters), I found they were nearly always based on half-truths or outright lies. This lead me to consider the possibility that if arguments against renewables required being so economical with the truth, then perhaps the arguments were actually unsound and weak. The more I've learned about electricity generation, the less I believe that existing legacy thermal generation has much of a future and the more convinced I've become that renewables are going to displace legacy generation for simple economic and financial reasons.

antoinolachtnai

There is no nuclear technology ready to roll out at scale to deliver next zero in the next decade. The nuclear plants needed to do this have only just barely been invented and still face years of testing before they can be brought to market.

gjim

I picked one argument made by that blog - an argument that you were happy to repeat - and showed that it was basically a big lie.

It's really simple; you claimed that the blackouts in China were caused by a lull in wind generation. That's untrue/bs/a lie - take your pick.

Either admit your claim was false or defend it. I've no interest in debating with someone who is happy to toss claims out there, and then just tries to walk away when challenged on it.

Argue in good faith please; if you make a specific claim then defend it or admit you were wrong. I know admitting you were wrong is the cardinal sin on an internet message board, but otherwise arguing like this is just a complete waste of everyone's time.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118873660#Comment_118873660

Invented. On paper. Just like the previous versions going back decades. Nothing new under the sun. Snake Oil.

Rolls Royce have been building small modular reactors for the UK's nuclear submarines since forever so that puts them way ahead of any startups who have no experience of real reactors.

Their spiel started off in 2020 as 16 x 440MW reactors being built in 5 years for 2Bn each.

Since then the reactors are now 470MW (it's a way to reduce the paper price per MW) and they need a firm commitment for the full £32Bn spend before starting. The first reactor won't be ready till after 2030 and maybe up to 10 by 2035.

And that's the best case scenario from a company fishing for funds.

You have to finance nuclear for decades from start of construction until you've paid back all the costs. Solar and storage will only get cheaper during that time.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118873191#Comment_118873191

Ah will ya stop lol, China's coal issues were reported about globally repeatedly for nearly 2 weeks last year.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118873903#Comment_118873903

To be fair lack of wind for wind turbines is quite an issue 😬

Until we get the long term storage thing we need sources of generation that can start generating as the system demands it, ie gas.

Once we get long term storage done (HOPEFULLY green hydrogen) we will be good to get to 100% renewable, until then, gas is a major player.

marno21

There’s no wind blowing where I am but the sun is shining. A combination of wind and solar is very complimentary to fill in the gaps in the other’s intermittency.

Gas plants are then capable of making up the difference. Intermittency of wind isn’t something we only found out about this afternoon.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118874066#Comment_118874066

Agreed however we get spells of a number of weeks of low wind during the winter when we have low solar generation.

This is when we have the pinch.

Even if we import over all available and planned interconnectors we would still need gas to pick up the difference.

josip

M2 is blowing 10 and a half knots at the moment, well above cut in speed. Offshore wind will significantly shorten the periods when demand exceeds generation.

Before 2030 we will have an additional 1.2GW of Interconnector capacity.

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118874103#Comment_118874103

Agreed. Gas is going to play an important role in our energy mix for the foreseeable future. The key is cutting down what percentage of the energy mix that is to a low as number as possible. Many ways to do this thankfully.

RandomViewer

Discretionary spending is falling off a cliff, billions spent in the last twenty years funding windfarms and now we are worse off than ever. People need to see energy bills falling rapidly aren't really worried if the power comes from straw or burned tyres,