EnergyCloud in Waterford City
Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh welcomes EnergyCloud to Waterford City as they install smart EnergyCloud devices in 99 Clúid Housing homes throughout the city this week.
Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh welcomes EnergyCloud to Waterford City as they install smart EnergyCloud devices in 99 Clúid Housing homes throughout the city this week. The project will see Waterford families receive surplus renewable energy free of charge which will be used for heating their hot water tanks. The EnergyCloud project, a social enterprise, will use surplus energy generated from renewable sources such as wind and sun to ease the burden of fuel poverty on households throughout the country.
Welcoming the Not-For-Profit project to Waterford, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said:
“This is a real case of waste not, want not. Currently, as it stands, at times when demand is low (during the night, for example) and renewable energy is high, we ‘spill’ that energy which essentially means it goes to waste. This scheme puts that excess electricity to much better use – providing free hot water to people in Waterford. Living in the Sunny South East, this is a great opportunity for Waterford households to benefit from electricity generated by the sun – at no cost to themselves”
“This is an innovative project which will make use of excess energy from the wind and the sun and will divert it to Waterford families who currently live in social housing and may be experiencing fuel poverty. An aspect of renewable energy is that we cannot control the wind or the sun so that sometimes excess energy is created. An estimated 1,448 GWh (with a retail value in excess of €300m approx.) of renewable energy used to go to waste but EnergyCloud are now diverting this valuable energy to families who need it the most. Installation of the EnergyCloud device is underway in Waterford City this week and I look forward to hearing feedback from some of the householders benefitting from this project in the near future.”
“Through EnergyCloud, excess renewable electricity will be used to heat water tanks for up to 70,000 homes nationally in the scheme, which is supported by Eirgrid, energy suppliers and Clúid Housing. The system is actually very simple. Homes in Waterford with an EnergyCloud device will be informed by text message if they will receive free energy during the night when EnergyCloud will link in to their hot water cylinder and heat their water when free power is available. This collaboration is entirely in line with what we in the Green Party are trying to deliver in Government. Sustainable and clean energy is key to Ireland meeting our Government emissions targets for 2030 as we try to address the Climate Crisis and innovative projects such as this play a crucial role in helping us to deliver these targets.”
