BUSINESS FIRST NORTHERN IRELAND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2017
The future of investment in renewables
n June 2016, it was announced that the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation
I( NIRO) scheme for financial support for renewable projects, such as larger onshore wind and solar, was to be closed.
This has made the future of renewable investment in Northern Ireland somewhat uncertain. Renewable projects that have been approved, installed, and commissioned by 31st March 2017 will continue to receive NIRO support, and in the UK, the Government is still looking at how to use the Contract for Difference( CfD) to support new renewable energy projects without subsidy. It has yet to be seen how this will impact the implementation of renewable installations in Northern Ireland.
Historically, renewable uptake has progressed well within the province, resulting in over 25 per cent of Northern Ireland’ s electricity coming from renewable sources, with over 85 per cent coming from largescale onshore wind.
As the cheapest form of renewable energy, this is good news for local consumers and the local economy. While wind energy is the largest contributor to our renewable energy target, other forms of power are playing their part. Hydro, landfill gas, and bioenergy are all important, and solar PV is continuing to grow in popularity.
Northern Ireland has seen five years of steady growth in largescale renewable electricity, with a marked increase in small scale and microgeneration in 2015.
This growth gives confidence that the current target 40 per cent our electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020 – will be met, providing that our grid infrastructure is given suitable investment to support the technology.
It is well understood that the grid network in Northern Ireland is severely under demand from load, but it is also under pressure from renewable sources pushing up the voltage beyond what is acceptable to the operators, hence the need for control and upgrade.
The network in Northern Ireland has approximately 8,00010,000 demand connection applications each year, with a typical 75 / 25 domestic / industrial split. The good news is that over 925MW of renewable generation has been connected to date.
The“ bad” news is, for this to be sustainable, we should we be looking at upgrading the network, but we should also consider a SMARTer way of working with our energy markets and providers – from grid networks to“ behind the meter” applications.
Active Harmonic Filters( AHF) and Static Var Generators( SVG) ensure power quality remains at a high standard, and energy storage is currently a need in our markets.
GES have developed a partnership with Sinexcel as the only approved UK and Ireland supplier of their innovative, noncapacitorbased, AHF and SVG products, and GES strive to implement a new Energy Storage Solution in the UK and Irish markets in 2017.
MOREINFORMATION
For more information on GES Group, their products and services, go to: www. ges-group. com, or call Head Office on: 028 2565 6406.
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