The State is “wasting” up to €2.7 million worth of renewable energy per night, or an estimated €450 million a year, that could benefit communities and households in fuel poverty, TDs and Senators have been told.
Surplus energy is typically available from wind farms at night, but is “dispatched down” because demand does not match power generation.
Energy is dispatched down when a power grid operator instructs a renewable energy source, such as a wind farm, to produce less electricity than it is capable of, or to shut down entirely.
The operator does this to ensure the stability of the grid, which relies on a balance of energy generated and consumed.
On Tuesday Alan Wyley, chief executive of EnergyCloud, a charity which uses technology to supply surplus renewable energy to low-income homes, told the Oireachtas Committee on Housing that 550,000 households were living in fuel poverty.
At the same time, he said, almost €2.5 billion worth of renewable energy has been “dispatched down” since 2017.
He said while the average value of the waste was €1.4 million worth of energy per night, the level reached €2.7 million last Thursday.
Citing figures from the electricity transmission operator EirGrid, Mr Wyley said the State had seen 962 gigawatt hours (GWh) of surplus renewable wind energy “dispatched down” between January and September this year. “This is enough renewable energy to heat 321 million tanks of hot water and has an average retail value of €341 million,” he said.
He said the situation was “truly shocking”.
He noted that the programme for government contained a commitment to “explore if legislation could be enacted to divert surplus renewable energy, that would otherwise be wasted, to those in fuel poverty”.
He told the committee that technology was available for hot water tanks or heat pumps to allow for surplus energy to be utilised.
His organisation is currently involved, along with electricity companies, in organising excess energy to be delivered to “several hundred” households where the householder receives a morning-time text to say they have received a tank of hot water free from their supplier. Mr Wyley said EnergyCloud was in the process of increasing this number to several thousand, but in order to scale up to the level required, a policy indication was required from Government.
Susan Vickers, head of environmental sustainability with housing agency Clúid, said “energy poverty is not a marginal issue – it is a growing crisis”. She said “energy poverty is a major factor in about 34 per cent of cases of those at significant risk of losing their homes, and that is likely an underestimation. We have residents who can afford just €20 a week for heating. Others have arrears of €200 to €1,300 with energy providers, on top of rent arrears.”
John Walsh, emerging technology and research manager with ESB Innovation, said the ESB Group has several initiatives under way to maximise the usage of electricity from renewables on the national grid. These include deploying large battery systems; upgrading the distribution grid; rolling out more than 2 million smart meters, and engaging with customers so they can embrace flexible energy consumption.