💾 Archived View for eir.mooo.com › nuacht › bac168073560030.gmi captured on 2023-04-19 at 22:50:10. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
➡️ Next capture (2024-06-20)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Thursday, 6 Apr 2023
Updated / Thursday, 6 Apr 2023 21:24
The scheme was launched in Tallaght today by Minister Eamon Ryan
By Colman O\u0027Sullivan
By Colman O'Sullivan
One of Ireland's first district heating programmes has started
operating in south Dublin.
The Tallaght District Heating Scheme takes waste heat from an Amazon
data centre and uses it to heat South Dublin County Council offices and
the local library.
The heat is carried by hot water pumped through a network of insulated
pipes. The scheme will also serve 133 affordable apartments to be built
on public land in Tallaght and a 3,500 sq/m innovation centre hosting
tech start-ups on the same site.
The council says that over the lifetime of the scheme it could also
heat 2,000 to 3,000 apartments.
It is expected to save 1,500 tonnes of carbon emissions per year in its
current phase.
South Dublin County Council architect Eddie Conroy describes it as a
big step in the decarbonisation of Tallaght, and "for us that's one of
our key actions in the climate change challenge".
He says the efficiencies delivered by the large scale of the project
should make it competitive when it comes to price for the end users and
because the electricity required will be bought on long-term contracts,
prices should be stable, avoiding the big spikes seen by many energy
users this winter.
pipes
The Minister for the Environment and Climate described the Tallaght
scheme as "an example of the future being delivered today".
Speaking at the launch of the project Eamon Ryan said the Government
will soon publish a heat policy as part of its Climate Action Plan
commitments.
"The delivery of heat is probably one of the most important in Climate,
you don't tend to see it, it’s not as visible or as high profile as
transport or agriculture, as electricity generation but actually
managing how we use heat and how we keep heat in is probably the
biggest change we need to make to keep our climate targets," Minister
Ryan says.
For the Tallaght project, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Ireland donates the
waste heat from its data centre which is used to pipe water into the
Heatworks Energy Centre next door.
AWS Ireland Country Manager Mike Beary says the company is very happy
to be involved.
"We've been investing in Tallaght for 15 years. AWS has been part of
this community, we're very proud of our relationships with this
community here. This is also a part of the drive to help Ireland meet
its climate change targets for 2030."
AWS Ireland donates waste heat to Heatworks Energy Centre
Mr Beary says he could not disclose how many data centres Amazon have
in Ireland but did say the company sees potential for district heating
schemes at other locations.
"It’s important to be in the right setting where we have close-by
neighbours that can take advantage of the heat that comes from our data
centres. It’s important to have good collaboration with the community,
with the local authority."
It is expected that district heating will become common across Ireland
in the coming decades.
Codema, the energy agency for Dublin, says most homes in the capital
could be served by district heating systems by 2050.
Waste heat from data centres, power stations and other industrial
facilities will be one source but there is also a significant
geothermal resource.
Codema Chief Executive Donna Gartland says there is huge potential.
"The SEAI’s (Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland) national level study
has shown that district heating has a huge potential, about 50 percent
of all Ireland’s heat demand ... and when we looked at the Dublin
region..we found that nearly all of the heat demand, around 80% of the
heat demand in Dublin can be met by district heating."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player
to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect
data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them
to load the content.Manage Preferences
Another district heating scheme using waste heat from the incinerator
in Ringsend could heat up to 80,000 homes.
They will need to be insulated up to Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB)
standard to maximise the number of homes which can be served.
Ms Gartland says the contract for that scheme should be in place by the
end of this year.
Eddie Conroy is retiring from South Dublin Council after 25 years and
is glad to have seen through the project to start the Tallaght scheme.
"It’s a proud moment for me and for the council. It’s innovative, this
project, and south Dublin is an innovative council".