David Noronha, Strategy Programme Manager, SSE Airtricity; Jonathan Sandham, Smart Networks Manager, ESB Networks; David Boundy, Director of IoT Innovation, Intel; Jonathan O’Sullivan, Manager Innovation, EirGrid; Rowena McCappin, Project Director, Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation; and Donal Finn, Associate Professor, University College Dublin
PARTNER CONTENT IN ASSOCIATION WITH REALVALUE
To meet its target of sourcing 16% of final energy use (all sectors) from renewables by 2020, top companies believe that unlocking the potential of residential small-scale energy storage will have a major impact.
Major companies such as Glen Dimplex, EirGrid, ESB Networks, SSE Airtricity and Intel understand the potential for domestic demand-side management (DDSM) solutions.
This will inform behavioural change in consumers and will have a big impact on energy models of the future.
RealValue
The €15.5 million Horizon 2020 project – RealValue – has revealed telling findings in one of the largest and most diverse pilot studies involving real participants within the BRIDGE Horizon 2020 Smart Grid and Energy Storage projects.
RealValue is driven by a group of 13 partner organisations from across Europe; it is led by Glen Dimplex and includes EirGrid, SSE Airtricity, ESB Networks, Intel and the Electricity Research Centre at UCD.
The initiative installed smart electric thermal storage systems (SETS) in approximately 550 properties in Ireland. This technology shows the potential in changing how people use and store energy, in heat form, in their homes.
Rowena McCappin, Project Director, RealValue said:
Having the entire electricity value chain involved in RealValue was of the utmost importance and facilitated a 360-degree overview of the potential for smart electric thermal storage.
John Young, Senior Engineer, EirGrid; Muiris Flynn, Chief Technology Officer, Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation Ireland; Donal Finn, Associate Professor, University College Dublin; Jonathan Sandham, Smart Networks Manager, ESB Networks; Rowena McCappin, Project Director, Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation; David Boundy, Director of IOT Innovation, Intel; Neil Stewart, CEO, Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation; Jonathan O’Sullivan, Manager Innovation, EirGrid; David Noronha, Strategy Programme Manager, SSE Airtricity; and Gerard Finneran, Project Engineer – Smart Grid Technologies, Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation Ireland.
Investment needed for new business models
If new industry business models are to be developed, huge amounts of investments will have to be generated.
This may be so, but we’re already seeing massive players in the industry making moves in this regard in developing new and innovative concepts to deliver small-scale energy storage.
Neil Stewart, CEO of Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation, commented on the findings:
Through our Quantum System, which launched in 2012, we have continually invested in ‘demand side management’, growing the low carbon technology side of our business.
He continued: “RealValue has illustrated that there’s huge potential in small-scale energy storage, and our involvement in BRIDGE has paved the way for future collaborations with partners. By working together with utility and technology companies, we hope to further investigate new business models, helping to shape the energy landscape of the future.”
The ‘RealValue’ of small-scale energy storage
Where does small-scale energy storage have the most potential? It seems in micro generation and energy storage for homes and businesses.
This can only be fully realised, however, if the entire electricity value chain comes to together to make change.
Find out all about RealValue here.