Wasted renewable energy could help households living in energy poverty, says TD

Since 2017, an estimated €1.95bn worth of surplus renewable energy has been dumped in Ireland with €420m of wind energy earthed last year alone. Picture: Denis Minihane

Ireland cannot continue to “throw away” clean energy while more than 550,000 households live in energy poverty, a Fianna Fáil TD has said.

Since 2017, an estimated €1.95bn worth of surplus renewable energy has been dumped in Ireland with €420m of wind energy earthed last year alone.

“This is enough to provide real relief for thousands of families struggling to keep their homes warm,” said Paul McAuliffe.

“At the same time, more than 550,000 households live in energy poverty. 

This is over 1m people; children, pensioners and working families, who are forced to choose between heating their homes and their essential needs.

A new bill, drafted by Mr McAuliffe and junior minister for Nature and Biodiversity Christopher O’Sullivan, seeks to develop a strategy within six months to redirect surplus renewable energy to those who are most in need. If passed, the bill could see at least 20% of this surplus energy used to alleviate energy poverty by 2026 and increase to 50% by 2030, Mr McAuliffe said.

Once a national strategy is put in place, the process is relatively straightforward as there is no need for new infrastructure and the technology already exists.

EnergyCloud Ireland, a not-for-profit social enterprise, is currently rolling out a pilot scheme with local authorities and approved housing bodies harnessing surplus renewable energy to provide free tanks of hot water to struggling homes.

It works by heating water tanks in people’s homes overnight when the demand for electricity is low and wind turbine output is high. As wind energy fluctuates, there is a need to ensure the grid does not become overloaded so when energy is there but not being used, it has to be dumped.

EnergyCloud has already installed hundreds of smart immersion controllers across the country with plans to install thousands more in the next 18 months.

“We already know the homes who are in receipt of the fuel allowance, to me that is a readymade list of people that could benefit from something like this,” Mr McAuliffe said.

Obviously, EnergyCloud is a charity, and this data that the State would have on people regarding fuel allowance is not available to them, but a national strategy would allow us to link those things together.

The scheme could be expanded down the line, with charging of electric cars identified as one potential route to take. “In the same way as we are talking about using hundreds of thousands of hot presses around the country, we could also be talking about using people’s electric vehicles as battery storage overnight.”

Ireland has an opportunity to be a world leader in how we use renewable energy and a fairer, more sustainable future is possible if we act now, he said.

“Energy waste is increasing year on year and every day that passes without a strategy is a day when families struggle while clean energy is being thrown away. We cannot allow this to continue.”

The strategy would not increase costs for businesses or consumers and would not interfere with the market or put additional burden on the taxpayer. It simply means we do not waste energy, Mr McAuliffe said.