COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 21, 2015

QUESTION NO.10

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

To ask the Chief Executive to provide an update on the geothermal district heating proposals for the County Town, the hyrdoelectric study involving rivers in the South Dublin County area, and other renewable energy initiatives being taken by or on behalf of the Council at present, or planned for the time ahead.

REPLY:

As part of its successful submission for designation as Sustainable Energy Community with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, South Dublin County Council included the potential for a District Heating Scheme to be focused initially on the growing centre of Tallaght. Key stakeholders in this potential project are SDCC (including County Hall, Civic Theatre, County Library and Rua Red), Tallaght Hospital, the Institute of Technology in Tallaght and the Square Shopping Centre. The balance of varying energy requirements – heating, cooling, lighting – and the pattern of usage across the daily cycle, offered potential for the development of a shared energy facility. This was further improved by the relatively short distances between the stakeholder buildings and the pattern of ownership in the Town Centre.

As part of the Job-Bridge Internship, Alice Coburn, energy graduate, collated the energy usage of the stakeholders from their energy bills. The total annual energy usage, combining gas and electricity, between all stakeholders is 43,835,382 Kw/h (electricity: 19,418,458 Kw/h, gas: 24,416,924 Kw/h). This is sufficient energy demand to encourage further detailed investigations of a district heating scheme.

The district heating scheme would, if developed, centre initially on a combined heat-power plant (CHP). This could be powered by natural gas, biomass (wood pellet/wood ship) or geothermal. Typically in UK and European examples, an initial small network grows and expands as neighbouring businesses realise the value and reliability of the district system. The scale of the system appears to offer a sufficient load requirement for evaluation in relation to geothermal and in a more sustainable planning and energy context than the low-density residential previously put forward.

Alice Coburn’s feasibility study was forwarded to SEAI and to City of Dublin Energy Management Agency (CODEMA) for evaluation. CODEMA have staff with specialist qualifications in this area. The feasibility study has been examined in greater detail by them and updated using specialist economic modelling software. This document was submitted to the Department of Energy Regulation for Green Paper on Energy Policy in Ireland.

SDCC commissioned a feasibility study on the potential for small scale hydroelectric generation on the rivers in South Dublin. The first stage of this study is complete and 15 sites which demonstrated some potential were identified. Two of these sites are in SDCC ownership and further studies on these are in progress.

SEAI grant funding has been secured for a special pilot project to install a Freqcon next generation converter at County Hall. SDCC are working with MEGA (Micro Energy Generation Association) and leading industry experts on this project. The Converter has been commissioned and is due to be installed at County Hall following extensive testing and additional research. Funding has been secured for photovoltaic cells on the roof of County Hall to work with the Converter.

SDCC are committed to the development of renewable sources under the County’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan, recently approved by the Covenant of Mayors.