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| Part L Revealed |
Since the announcement last September by the Minister for the Environment of substantial improvements to be made under Part L of the Building Regulations, speculation has been rife in the construction industry about what the details of the updated regulations would entail. Jeff Colley examines some of the key parts of a regulatory improvement that will help the Irish construction industry to modernise and meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.
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Official magazine of Easca  |
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Renewable Energy
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Page 5 of 7
The new form of net metering could make investing in a CHP installation really attractive if it could be run to produce a lot of electricity for export at times of peak demand. Indeed, it might be more profitable to run it, or even a standby diesel generator, so as to enable a factory or a large office block to become independent of the grid at peak times. This is because under the All-Island Market rules, firms, or groups of firms, with a power demand of 4MW or more can be paid for ceasing to draw electricity whenever it suits the grid operator to ask them to do so. Any firm doing this would not only save the difference between producing its own power and buying it in at the top rate, but it would also be paid a premium as well.
Dan Twomey has harnessed the power of the river Lee, with a 70Kw turbine (below) at the Lee Weir (above)
Jerry Sweeney of Synergy Module is working with Irish Energy Management Ltd to assemble a group of firms prepared to shed load at times of heavy electricity demand. “It's called Demand Side Bidding. The idea is that the firms tell Synergy Module the price at which they are prepared to reduce load and the amount of load they can cut at that price. Synergy Module aggregates this information into a collective bid on behalf of enough firms to meet the 4MW minimum power demand requirement. When the demand for electricity threatens to exceed the supply, AIME will tell Synergy Module to reduce demand and we'll do so using the direct electronic controls we'll have over our members' loads.”
The new electricity market makes it possible – but not easy - for small electricity generators to become electricity suppliers. One man who has done so is Dan Twomey of Banteer, Co. Cork, who developed a 70kW waterpower site in Cork city in 2004 and sells the power produced there to Cork City Council for 10% less than it would have to pay the ESB. “I've got two more turbines waiting to go in and that will give me 170kW capacity” he says.
Under the new arrangements he has to sell the power he produces into the All-Island Market pool, in which he's a registered participant. He's a price-taker and is paid for whatever he supplies at the relevant half-hourly prices as recorded by a step-meter in his turbine house. He supplies 100 ordinary meters on various Cork City Council premises. These record the power they draw from the grid in the normal way and are read by the Meter Registration System Operator (MRSO), a “ringfenced” part of ESB Networks, which lets him know what the council has consumed and also tells the All-Island Market pool what it should bill him. “I get the AIME bill every Friday and have to pay it by the following Wednesday” he says. “I have to pay the difference between the amount of electricity I've supplied and the amount it is estimated my customer has used.” An adjustment is made when the Council's meters are actually read.
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Issue 1, Vol 5 Out Now
The new look issue of Construct Ireland is available now. Click here to subscribe online and have the latest issue delivered to your doorstep
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