SEI urges industry in Ireland to examine alternative and more efficient means of electricity generation 19/04/04
Media Information 19 April 2004
SEI urges industry in Ireland to examine alternative and more efficient means of electricity generation
Threefold increase in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) required before 2010
Sustainable Energy Ireland has today urged Irish industry to consider alternative and more efficient means of electricity generation and energy use such as combined heat and power (CHP) as a way of reducing national energy consumption. The call was made by David Taylor, Chief Executive of SEI who was speaking at the launch of a new report examining the deployment of CHP systems in Ireland. The report reveals that installed CHP capacity needs to triple by the end of the decade in order to meet the target set under the National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS).
The report entitled “Combined Heat and Power In Ireland, Trends and Issues 1991-2002” was prepared by SEI’s Energy Policy Statistical Support Unit. It analyses the current contribution made by CHP in Ireland, trends since 1991 and compares Ireland with other European member states. It emphasises that CHP has the potential to increase the efficiency of energy use for Irish industry and commerce thereby assisting Ireland in achieving its environmental goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
CHP systems generate electricity and useful heat simultaneously from the same plant and is most appropriate where there is a relatively large demand on site for both services.
The report shows that the operational installed capacity of CHP at the end of 2002 in Ireland was 125 MW, demonstrating a significant growth in installed CHP capacity since 1991, from a low base of 57 MW. This has been mostly due to the national and EU support schemes available and driven also by the high price of electricity compared with gas during most of the 1990’s. This price differential makes CHP more favourable from an economic point of view and is a primary consideration for industrial competitiveness. The growth has occurred, for the most part, in industry in the food and beverages sub-sector and in the services sector, largely hotels, hospitals and leisure centres.
However, the report also reveals that there is much potential for further CHP development in Ireland, with only 2.6% of electricity currently being generated from CHP plant, compared with 10% for Europe as a whole.
According to David Taylor of SEI, “While CHP is being deployed in some industries in Ireland, its use in this country is well below those of our European counterparts. There is huge potential for CHP both in terms of the potential energy cost savings and the potential impact on the environment. The depletion of fossil fuels, allied with the growing levels of emissions of harmful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, makes it imperative that we examine alternative means of energy utilisation, including CHP”.
Ireland‘s demand for energy has increased significantly in recent years. Over the period 1990 – 2002 Ireland’s total primary energy requirement grew in absolute terms by 57.9%. The large increase in energy consumption has resulted in a consequent increase in energy related CO2 emissions, with harmful greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland reaching 31% above 1990 levels in 2001. This growth is set against Ireland’s target under the Kyoto Protocol to limit emissions growth to 13% above 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012.
Mr. Taylor continued, “Ireland urgently needs to stabilise energy-related emissions. We have already exceeded the limits set for Ireland for 2010 under the Kyoto Protocol. Unless the uptake of sustainable energy technologies is considerably accelerated, Ireland could significantly exceed its internationally agreed allocation”.
The National Climate Change Strategy specifically advocates the use of CHP. The strategy targets a saving of 0.25 Mt CO2 per year up to 2010 from CHP. This has been estimated to mean that an additional 250 MWe of CHP plant will need to be installed by the end of this decade if the Government target is to be achieved.
Sustainable Energy Ireland was established on May 1st 2002 as a statutory authority charged with promoting and assisting the development of sustainable energy. It is funded by Government under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 with programmes part financed by the European Union.
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For further information please contact:
Diarmuid O’Neill
Edelman
01-6789333 / 087-6699933
Editors Notes:
What is CHP?
CHP is the simultaneous generation of usable heat and electricity in a single process. It usually involves the burning of fossil fuels, but it can also be produced from biomass (including biogas and waste). The recent trend is to use natural gas for CHP.
CHP has been in use for more than 100 years and can be based on a variety of fuels and technologies across a wide selection of sites and scheme sizes. There are however, a number of common characteristics. The basic elements of a CHP plant comprise one or more prime movers (a reciprocating engine, gas turbine, steam turbine etc.) driving electrical generators, where the exhaust or residual heat is recovered via suitable heat recovery equipment for use either in industrial processes or heating.
MW refers to “Mega Watt”, MWe refers to "Mega Watt electrical" and Mt CO2 “million tonnes of carbon dioxide”
About SEI's Energy Policy Statistical Support Unit
SEI has a lead role in developing and maintaining comprehensive national and sectoral statistics for energy production, transformation and end use. This data is a vital input to meeting international reporting obligations, advising policy makers, and informing investment decisions. Based in Cork, the Energy Policy Statistical Support Unit is SEI's specialist statistics team. Its core functions are to:
- collect, process and publish energy statistics to support policy analysis and development in line with national needs and international obligations
- conduct analyses of energy services sectors and sustainable energy options;
- contribute to the development and promulgation of appropriate sustainability indicators
