When will Gormley let us put our excess electricity back into the grid

BigglesMcGee

At the moment it is next to impossible to make any investment in renweables pay for itself in any reasonable period of time.

I think the answer to this would be something like they have in the UK and Califoria where power you do not use is not wasted and makes your meter run backwards.

This woud have 2 effects.

Enegy geerated when noone is home is wasted. Now it would be effectively stored and recovered when you need it.

With generating your own electricity now paying off for ALL generated electircity woth no waste, people would be more likely to invest.

Its such a simple step and would make a huge difference to our environment.

Well at the very least it gives the generating companies another thing to factor in when they estimate energy requirements. At best it may mean that an oil fired station may not be brought on line as often.

AckwelFoley

Well there is some factor you are missing im afraid.

It will happen for certain. At the moment the ESB are testing 2 meters To see if they are accurate. However when.. and they will because they have to by EU law.. allow us to be paid for a return to the grid what the ESB will do is charge us a much higher rate for peak time period useage of electricity.

Miro energy generation is going to happen, however the ESB hve to protect their profits..

Electrical use is very very poor for carbon footprint alot worse than oil.. because of the esb's use of "dirty" fossil fuels. However if we can generate enough electricity to contribute towards our heat pumps and heat recovery units, it will realelp reduce your carbon footprint and make your house so much more less dependant on outside energy.

ART6

BigglesMcGee wrote: »

At the moment it is next to impossible to make any investment in renweables pay for itself in any reasonable period of time.

I think the answer to this would be something like they have in the UK and Califoria where power you do not use is not wasted and makes your meter run backwards.

This woud have 2 effects.

Enegy geerated when noone is home is wasted. Now it would be effectively stored and recovered when you need it.

With generating your own electricity now paying off for ALL generated electircity woth no waste, people would be more likely to invest.

Its such a simple step and would make a huge difference to our environment.

How do you propose to "store" electricity? How can you return something you never used or paid for in the first place?

ircoha

BigglesMcGee wrote: »

At the moment it is next to impossible to make any investment in renweables pay for itself in any reasonable period of time....

If this is your only reason for investing in RE then you are in fact missing the main point which is that there is a need to change our life styles in a big way and using RE sources is just part of it.

When a resource becomes scare and then unavailable the ROCE/PV/IRR cals for the alternative become irrelevant

BigglesMcGee

ircoha wrote: »

If this is your only reason for investing in RE then you are in fact missing the main point which is that there is a need to change our life styles in a big way and using RE sources is just part of it.

When a resource becomes scare and then unavailable the ROCE/PV/IRR cals for the alternative become irrelevant

ART, you dont need to store it. Wind/solar generators run during the day when most people dont need the electricity. So when this is fed back to the grid your meter goes backwards and when you do use it you are using up what you have returned to the grid plus whatever else you use on top of that. So you are saving what you fed back.

Irocha, i (as lots of other people do) have all sorts of reasons for wanting to use alternative energy. Most of them good intentions towards the environment.
What i dont have is money to waste doing it.

wazzoraybelle

good article in guardian newspaper last saturday, Profiles Ashley Seager who installed 3kw pv panels on his london home. Over 1 year it produced 2,730kw or 92% of his electricity needs. Owing to the renewables obligation scheme he will be quids up as he gets paid 12p/kw from his elec provider(?). In Germany the rate is 35p.
This is the only way to support microgeneration, and I'm very surprised it hasn't been addressed already by the minister.
The Esb have no excuse, microgeneration has been feeding grids all over the world for more than a decade in countries all over the world and is both safe and viable.
The esb have been dithering over this and will continue to drag their feet until the minister starts to impose fines for delays, It is simply not in their interest to buy your electricity.
As for my own situation, I have been waiting 2 years for this to happen so I can install a wind turbine which will more than cover all my energy needs.

ircoha

wazzoraybelle wrote: »

.... It is simply not in their interest to buy your electricity....

This is crap, unless u allow them charge premium rates to meet peak demand and in the extreme case shed load.

The real issue here is that we are too small a country with the wrong gen gear to allow this sort of unbridled, i want to feel good, diversification at this juncture.

If you answer the following question you will see what I mean:

Situation: Mid December, High pressure system over Europe, average wind speed 5k or less, sun has just set.

Who HAS TO HAVE the gen-capacity to meet the demand?

What u seem to be saying is that u want to be able to force the esb to buy ur genned power when u dont need it, but also expect them to be in a position to provide u with ur max requirement as u are not yet willing to contemplate
'Dancing in the moonlight/dark'. [Phil/Bruce]

wazzoraybelle

that's exactly what I'm saying! the esb have an obligation to buy as much renewables as possible, I apologise for not being able to quote line and verse but there is an eu directive on the issue. The power generating stations here are ultra inefficient and the new ones being brought online should be factoring in renewables in their design,( i.e. being capable of filling in the gaps that renewables can't) instead of these constant cycle gas terminals being built that have to run 24/7 in order to be efficient. At present esb emits 642g CO2/kw!! that is an absolute disgrace, and needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.Micro generation is not and never will be the complete answer to our energy problem but it has a role to play and that needs to be recognised.

moceri

Most ESB Customer meters are fitted with a Brake that prevents the meter going backwards when excess generated electricity is fed back into the Grid. THE ESB are reluctant to change this regime not only because of impacts on its bottom line but more so on how it can maintain the integrity of the Grid supply at a smooth 220V 50 Htz. If a Cluster of Micro generators Dump electricity back into the grid in an unmanaged manner you can get local spikes that could damage your neighbours intallation and/or equipment.

ESB networks, on direction from CENELEC have now provided Conditions Governing Connection and Operation of Micro-generation.

Here also are some FAQ's about micro generation courtesy of ESB Networks


I Hope you find this interesting.

Cuauhtemoc

As posted here there is trial starting where the esb will buy excess back...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055276557

C.