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NEWS

February/March 2012 www.esb.ie/em

COLERAINE HOMES GO ON ENERGY DIET

NIE HAS LAUNCHED a Shift & Save trial that invites 200 people from selected areas of Coleraine to get ‘smart’ with their energy consumption.

The two-year trial, the first of its kind in Northern Ireland, will involve swapping existing electricity meters with new smart digital meters that will monitor a household’s electricity use, showing customers how much electricity they are using and how much it is costing, allowing them to be more energy efficient.

NIE Customer Liaison Officer Christine Baker said, “In the first three days of the trial, we received more than 100 enquiries on this project, which is really positive. It will help to understand how smart meters and smart-grid technology could change a household’s energy usage patterns. We want to help homeowners save money by ‘shifting’ the times they do things, such as using their washing machine, which helps spread the usage on our network and reduces peak electricity demand at certain times of the day.”

The first year of the trial will involve installing smart meters in homes and fitting specialised monitoring equipment at substations sites to gather baseline data and monitor circuit load data and customers electricity consumption. During the second year, NIE will seek to influence energy consumption by encouraging homeowner’s to shift the times they do things, such as using their washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher. This will help to spread the usage on our electricity network, reduce peak electricity demand and enable householder’s to save money on their energy bills.

Ecar test drive for ESB Board Member

Sean Conlon charges his electric car before his test drive.

TELECOM COMPANY Vodafone Ireland is taking part in the national trial of electric cars being conducted by ESB ecars.

ESB board member Seán Conlan, who is also a lecturer at IT Sligo, has also signed up to give an electric car a test drive during the national assessment.

The trial involving 15 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs and two Nissan LEAFs has been running, in conjunction with Trinity College Dublin, for the past 18 months. Among those taking part are ESB staff, residential and high profile personalities such as Conor Faughan, AA Ireland, and Alan Gallagher, Head of Stadium Operations at Croke Park.

In Dromahair, where Seán Conlan lives, the electric car is already recognised by locals and is provoking lots of interest both in North Leitrim and Sligo. Seán has also brought the electric car to IT Sligo to demonstrate it to staff and to students where it was received with great enthusiasm.

All participants are providing customer feedback in the form of questionnaires and focus groups to the trial organisers who are examining the participant’ ‘expectations before and after the trial and analysing how participants are using the charging infrastructure. The research will also provide ESB ecars with a more in-depth knowledge of how the technology and its integration into the electricity network will work in future as ecars become mainstream.

Braille signage in Turlough Hill

Liam Nolan of the Project Office in Turlough Hill examining the new signage with Niall O’Hanlon, ESB Access Officer.

Liam and Niall with Daragh Duhy, Project Manager Turlough Hill Refurbishment.

A VERY interesting disability initiative took place in Turlough Hill recently. The Project Office attached to Turlough Hill Generating Station has introduced office, and emergency, signage for the visually impaired.

This signage is different in very subtle ways:

• All the words and symbols are on colour contrasting backgrounds, thereby making them easier to distinguish.
• All the words and symbols are slightly raised in order to allow people to feel the wording or symbol.
• Each sign has the corresponding Braille wording.

The new signs have been placed in particular locations depending on the office or room usage.

The signs are manufactured by the company Braille Signs, as per the guidelines set out in the new Sign Design Guide, and are accredited by the National Council for the Blind of Ireland and the National Disability Authority. The inclusion of Braille and tactile signage in public sector workplaces is required under equal status legislation, notably the Employment Equality Act 2010, which aims to improve accessibility and to provide a fully-inclusive work environment for people with disabilities.

ESB Access Officer Niall O’Hanlon recently visited Turlough Hill to meet with the Project Office staff to view the signage and he would like to thank Liam Nolan and Daragh Duhy for developing this initiative. Perhaps one day this type of signage will be available for visually impaired staff in all workplaces.

MERGE monitors ecar motor milestones

DUBLIN WAS THE venue for the final meeting of the European MERGE (Mobile Energy Resources in Grids of Electricity) project in December 2011. The Irish representatives, from ESB Networks and the ESB ecars team, met with their European counterparts to discuss the findings of this collaborative research project which began in January 2010.

The project examined the impact of electric cars on:

• The electricity grid infrastructure.
• The existing power generation and grid infrastructure planning.
• The increase of renewable energy production.

The MERGE consortium found the visit to Dublin very interesting, as they had the opportunity to discuss ESB ecars experiences, especially the roll-out of electric vehicle-charging infrastructure in Ireland to date.

Members of the MERGE consortium at Dublin Meeting in December 2011

Departed friends