Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan, TD with Irish Wind Energy Association Chief Executive, Michael Walsh, TD at the opening of ElectTEC 10 Event.

ESBI Engineering makes presentation at ElecTEC 10

POOR FOUNDATIONS can result in wind turbine shut down for months at a time to facilitate costly repairs, suggests ESBI Engineering Civil and Structural Manager Eoin O’Brien, who presented at the ElecTEC 10 event, which was opened by the Minster for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan TD.

Speaking at the Irish Wind Energy Association's ElecTec 10 workshop for Power System Technologyon Friday June 11th in Dublin, Eoin identified the source of difficulties faced in both the design and construction of foundations for wind turbines. During his presentation, Eoin also outlined solutions, while stressing in particular the importance of thorough ground investigation, in-depth understanding of the detailed design issues, good communication between all parties involved and a high standard of quality control on-site during construction.

Eoin's presentation entitled Challenges Relating to Wind Turbine Foundation Construction was the topic of an article in the June edition of reNews, the electronic newspaper tracking the renewables market in the UK and beyond.

Liam Breathnach, an electrical engineer from ESBI's Power Systems Studies group, also presented at the workshop on Harmonic Design Considerations for Windfarms to ensure Grid Code Compliance. Liam outlined how wind turbines may be a source of harmonics that may interact with system impedance. As the resulting distortion can damage equipment and increase losses, and considering that mitigation measures are costly, Liam concluded that the early identification of potential issues is vital.

Engineers Ireland allocated eight hours Career Professional Development (CPD) for attendance at this event. Full presentations are available on the Irish Wind Energy Association's website www.iwea.com.

Coolkeeragh ESB sponsors Walk to School scheme

Coolkeeragh ESB (N.I.) was delighted to assist in sponsoring Broadbridge Primary School's ‘Walk to School’ programme, which entails a number of walk to school weeks during the school year. Coolkeeragh ESB Community Committee (CESB) presented the school in Eglinton with high visibility jackets to help improve the overall safety of the Walk to School scheme. Broadbridge School Principal Tony McLaughlin said he was delighted with the support from the power station.

CESB Community Committee members Bill Coyle and Peter Mulholland with Broadbridge Primary School pupils and their principal, Tony McLaughlin.

Geothermal electricity generation projects

Geothermal electricity to contribute to Ireland's National Renewable Energy Action Plan

GT ENERGY, a company that specialises in harnessing deep geothermal energy for the provision of renewable heat and electricity, has entered into a Technology Partnership Agreement (TPA) with ESB International (ESBI).

By 2020, under the agreement, GT Energy will generate up to 50MW of electricity using geothermal energy and ESBI will assist the company with the design of the generating equipment and the necessary grid-connections. The two companies will work together to share information, expertise and resources to support GT Energy's plans to develop a number of deep geothermal electricity projects across Ireland.

Geothermal energy is a renewable and sustainable energy source generated from the heat in the earth's core. It is harnessed by extracting hot water and/or steam from deep underground and using its heat to generate electricity. Although already widely used around the world in countries such as Iceland, the US, Italy, France and Germany, to-date no deep geothermal project has been completed in Ireland or Northern Ireland.

GT Energy has identified a number of sites on the island of Ireland, including Dublin, that offer potential for the development of geothermal energy plants. In addition to delivering energy for heating purposes, many of these would have the capacity to generate about 5MW of electricity each. This additional renewable generation capacity would assist Ireland to meet renewable energy obligations and in delivering the National Renewable Energy Action Plan.

GT Energy recently announced that it had raised first-round funding through NCB Corporate finance and secured grant aid from the British Government. GT Energy Managing Director Padraig Hanly says the agreement with ESBI is a ‘further endorsement of the company's business model, management team and its compelling environmental proposition’.

“We are delighted to be working with ESBI,” he said. “Their technical expertise and experience in the area of electricity generation, plant construction, grid connection and knowledge of the single electricity market will be highly valuable to us and will complement our team's broad experience in identifying, analysing and developing deep geothermal energy projects. This collaboration brings us closer to delivering Ireland's first geothermal electricity project.”

ESBI Market and Technology Developments Manager Gerry White said, “ESBI is interested in all forms of renewable energy and is already involved in the development of wind and ocean energy projects. We believe geothermal energy could have very significant potential in Ireland and we will be committing resources to assist GT Energy in bringing its projects to fruition. This technology is very attractive because it is one of the very few renewable energy sources that is not intermittent. This means that it is not affected by time of day, season or meteorological conditions and is ‘always on’, thus giving it the distinct advantage of being able to deliver base load electricity to the grid.”

Padraig Hanly added, “Unlike some other renewable energy sources, geothermal energy is likely to get a preferred status for grid connection to the all-Ireland electricity grid because most of the projects’ installed generation capacity will be under 5MW, meaning that limited additional network and capital investment is required to bring the electricity onto the existing grid network.”

GT Energy and ESBI will collaborate on Ireland's first Geothermal Electricity Generation projects. Pictured are GT Energy Managing Director Padraig Hanly with ESBI Market and Technology Developments Manager Gerry White.

Windfarms Connections

Networks, page 17