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23
ESB NETWORKS LTD
June/July 2012 www.esb.ie/em
Sustainability Update
Energy efficient dehumidifiers on trial
OUR QUEST TO reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings and reach our 30% carbon reduction target by the end of 2012 continues.
A new Calorex dehumidifier is presently being trialled in a number of drying rooms around the country. Drying rooms are a large user of electricity especially during periods of wet weather.
Similar units from Calorex have been installed in drying rooms in some fire stations and fire training centres in the U.K. The Calorex unit is controlled by a humidistat that detects moisture in the air when wet clothes or overalls are placed in the room.
The system is far more sophisticated than just using heat to dry clothes. The Calorex units not only physically remove moisture from the air but also create heat in an energy efficient manner ensuring clothes and overalls are warm as well as dry.
According to ESB’s Eddie McDonnell; “It’s early days yet but feedback from depots where these units have already been installed has been very positive. It is vital though for proper hanging arrangements to be put in place to ensure the units work in an efficient manner”.
Sustainability and Team Improvement Plans
INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY into local Team Improvement Plans is ongoing. Approximately 180 plans were developed late last year by teams at all levels across Networks. The plans incorporate and address safety, health, quality, environment and sustainability issues at a local level in a single page and in an effective and integrated manner.
The idea behind the plans is that they are:
- Team based, focussed and relevant to the team itself
- Items are meaningful and achievable over a short time period
- Reviewed and updated on a regular basis.
A Sharepoint page has also recently been developed to allow plans and relevant documents to be held in a central location, accessible to all staff, and to facilitate the sharing of information.
According to Paddy Hamill, Sustainability Manager; “Integrating Sustainability and Sustainable Working initiatives and issues into these plans will further help align the programme with our Networks strategy and with our Safety and Quality programmes. These plans will help provide a greater focus in all these areas at a local level”.
ESBI in focus
Energy International
page 24
ESB Networks hosts the National Smart Electricity Conference
Report by Teresa Fallon, Manager Smart Networks, on the recent National Smart Electricity Conference, hosted by ESB Networks in association with iQuest. The event was held in Croke Park.
THE NATIONAL SMART Electricity Conference, sponsored by ESB Networks, was held in Croke Park on 20th April 2012. This was the first conference ESB Networks have hosted for a number of years and were delighted to put together a very interesting agenda addressing the immediate opportunities and challenges presented by the delivery of a smart electricity system, from both a National and an International perspective. The Conference was opened by the ESB Chief Executive, Pat O'Doherty and Minister Pat Rabbitte, who gave the key note addresses.
The concept of Smart Networks and how it will contribute to future economic growth in Ireland is now widely acknowledged. In his key note speech Minster Rabbitte acknowledged the work that is ongoing in this area through the Smart Metering and other programmes. He endorsed the importance of this area and the need to leverage it’s benefits for harnessing the renewable wind resource of the country.
There were a wide range of speakers in attendance, including Matt Wakefield, Program Manager, Smart Grid from the US based Electrical Power Research Institute, the European Commission and key stakeholders in the electricity sector in Ireland including The Commissioner for Energy Regulation, leading academics and Irish based multinational companies with who are looking to this as a future growth area.
The potential for Ireland to be a test bed for innovation in this area was re-affirmed by the speakers at this conference and Ireland’s leading presence was commended by both the US and EU international speakers. Manuel Sánchez Jiménez, Directerate General EU Commission, acknowledged Ireland for being one of just 13 countries in the EU that has carried out a cost benefit analysis for the roll out of smart metering. These smart metering trials, conducted with the CER, are leading the way for the full roll out of a smart meter program to every customer in the country. Ireland, along with the UK, will have a highest functionality smart meter programme spec of all EU countries. Matt Wakefield from the US based Electrical Power Research Industry confirmed in his presentation that ESB Networks would be considered a very advanced utility internationally in the wider Smart Grid Demonstration area.
ESB Networks is very active in developing innovations and have carried out a number of important award wining research projects which are helping define the future electricity system. At the conference Denis O'Leary outlined the achievements that have been delivered by increasing network innovation and smartness to date, for example the national SCADA and Outage Management System, network automation and Self Healing Networks. He also outlined ESB Networks vision of the electricity network of 2025 which was well received by a full capacity attendance. Michael Walsh, EirGrid, affirmed the need for collaboration in smart grid developments, to ensure that Ireland harnesses the very valuable wind resources while ensuring a high quality and secure electricity supply for Ireland’s high tech industry. Gareth Blaney from the CER highlighted the economic and environmental costs of network constraint payments and wind curtailment, challenges that Smart Metering and smart networks could alleviate.
The afternoon programme included presentations from speakers on the building blocks of the smart electricity system of the future. Ambitious plans in this area were heard from Sean O’Driscoll from Glen Dimplex, and Lisa Amini IBM while Professor Mark O’Malley gave an overview of how variable wind generation can be balanced at a macro level in Ireland. The last speaker of the day, Catherine Licken of the DCENR spoke of how the growth in communications and data and information will drive both public and industry expectations of smart electricity systems.
The programme also included a very interesting panel discussion with contributions from Charles Sheridan, Intel, Paul Mulvaney, ESB eCars, Gary O’Callaghan, Siemens and Joe Durkin from SEAI.
The conference was closed by Jerry O'Sullivan, MD ESB Networks Ltd., who praised the quality of speakers and indicated the need for ESB Networks to hold such events more frequently into the future. The feedback was that this was an excellent event.
