Despite a slow start, the Irish SmartCORE pilot project is now up and running and is beginning to register the first data from the installations spread across the region of South Kerry. The pilot is led by South Kerry Development Partnership (SKDP), in collaboration with the Munster Technological University (MTU) as technical partner.
Making headway in difficult conditions
Energy communities looking to get started with energy sharing don't have an easy path ahead of them, and the journey has been more turbulent in Ireland than in other EU partner regions. The main obstacle facing the Irish project has been a lack of access to up-to-date energy usage data from participating installations, after the national DSO disabled the second data port on electricity smart meters. On top of this, the legal environment for energy sharing in the country remains very underdeveloped, which clearly hinders projects of this kind.
Data starts to flow, the pilot takes off
MTU, the technical partner of this pilot, has put significant effort into overcoming this lack of data in order to feed its energy management tools. The team has developed a system that can be integrated into participats’ smart meters to monitor their energy usage and send this information to MTU’s base in Cork for analysis. This is a major step forward for the project, since accurate data is key for the full deployment of the SmartCORE initiative.
Meanwhile, SKDP was working with local
communities to spark interest and engagement in the project. They held an
initial public meeting in the Milltown area to showcase the pilot project and
to explain what was involved for potential participants. In recent weeks, the
team has installed counters in 5 of the initial
participants’ properties (businesses and homes, some with solar panels and some
without), ensure that the data is being properly collected and can be processed
by MTU as planned.
A community at a time. The pilot gets bigger
In September, the Irish partners plan to undertake the next expansion phase of the pilot when they will roll out the technology to the next cohort of participants and again check that everything runs smoothly. Once this is completed, they will move on to a full roll-out of the pilot in the wider Milltown area, reaching all planned participants. Regular engagement sessions with participants are planned over the course of the pilot, both to ensure full transparency around data use and results, and to help participants optimise their energy consumption - by highlighting the most attractive times to use energy and, in turn, reduce their bills.
Building the case for change
We hope that the results of our pilot will help build a strong case to the Irish Department of Energy to put in place the legislation needed to allow communities across the country to share and trade locally generated energy amongst themselves.
Through the work on SmartCORE, SKDP and MTU
aim to have the community in Milltown at the forefront of this effort, and to be
fully ready to embrace the opportunity as soon as it arrives.
