Almost €870 million worth of electricity has been wasted in the last year and a half because Ireland has no policy for use of surplus wind power, an energy poverty charity has said.
EnergyCloud, which works with wind energy companies and some low-income housing developments to divert surplus electricity to powering radiators and immersions for free, said the Government must take steps to address the problem nationally.
“We’re trying to shine a light on the social problem and shine a light on the waste problem and hopefully connect them,” EnergyCloud chief executive Alan Wyley said.
“We’re helping about 1,000 households but there are 550,000 homes in Ireland experiencing energy poverty, so this needs a national policy.”
RM Block
Electricity is wasted when wind farms have to power down or turn off turbines at times when high winds correspond with low electricity demand.
There is nowhere on the grid to send the surplus power for immediate use and not enough large-scale battery storage installations to hold on to it for future use so wind farms are curtailed and paid by the State for their time out of action.
This has not happened in recent weeks because of the fine weather but on average it happens 10 nights a month. The daily waste in the 18 months since the Government came into power is valued at an average of €1.65 million.
The programme for government contains a commitment to “explore if legislation could be enacted to divert surplus renewable energy, that would otherwise be wasted, to homes in fuel poverty”.
It also commits to “explore ways to use surplus renewable energy to help reduce energy poverty, ensuring that renewable energy benefits all communities”.
But 18 months later, there are no proposals on the table. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said it was working on a strategy to reduce curtailment and that the National Energy Affordability Taskforce which was examining energy poverty was due to report in the autumn.
EnergyCloud fits homes with devices that enable people to heat water tanks and storage heaters for free with surplus electricity at times when they would otherwise keep them switched off.
[ Energy poverty: ‘I am basically on the breadline. I never have the heating on’Opens in new window ]
The charity in its pre-budget submission published this week calls for all new and retrofitted homes to be fitted with smart heat pumps and other electrical appliances capable of having surplus electricity diverted to them.
“We’re still installing ‘dumb’ appliances that can’t be communicated with remotely so they can’t have surplus electricity diverted to them,” Wyley said.
“At the very least, all social houses should be fitted with them – that would allow the 72,000 social homes the Government has promised to build by 2030 to benefit.”
EnergyCloud is also calling for an end to universal energy credits as a support in cost-of-living crises, saying they must be targeted to those in energy poverty.
