Energy News
02/10/2009 Foster encourages local communities to participate in energy challenge
Energy Minister Arlene Foster is encouraging local communities across Northern Ireland to get involved in the Low Carbon Communities Challenge.
The Challenge is part of a two year joint initiative, led and funded by the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), in partnership with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI), Communities and Local Government, the Office of the Third Sector, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Welsh Assembly Government.
It aims provide to provide financial and advisory support to 20 'test-bed' communities, including local councils, charities and social enterprises, across Northern Ireland, England and Wales.
It is focused on those communities that are already taking action, or considering changes to cut carbon emissions and create more sustainable neighbourhoods, as well as those that could potentially house a wind farm, use electric cars or install community-scale retrofitting of homes.
Welcoming Northern Ireland's inclusion in the Low Carbon Communities Challenge, the Minister said "This Challenge will contribute towards our transition into a low carbon economy. The information gathered will not only help further develop plans to change the way we heat and power our homes and businesses, use our transport systems and our energy supplies, it will also inform Government's wider delivery plans on energy and climate change.
"Earlier this year, communities in Lisburn, Cookstown and Irvinestown participated in the DECC's Big Energy Shift workshops. These aimed to identify how communities could best make cuts in their energy consumption.
"Now is the opportunity for more communities to get involved in the fight against carbon emissions and make a difference. This Low Carbon Communities Challenge can help achieve energy and cost savings, support inward investment and foster community leadership.
"I believe that such initiatives can help combine both technological solutions with household behaviour change, both of which are critical in achieving the carbon emission cuts we need in communities."
A letter and information pack for potential applicants is being sent by DECC to local authorities in Northern Ireland and across England and Wales to alert them to the Challenge and invite their participation.
The communities will be supported through the provision of advice and funding, worth up to £500,000. This money could then be invested in such projects as a community wind turbine or biomass heating pumps in the local community hall or school. A specialist support group of partners, including The Energy Savings Trust and The Carbon Trust, will work together with each community to offer help and advice.
The Minister concluded: "Northern Ireland's participation in this initiative is very important as my Department seeks to promote energy efficiency in voluntary organisations and the many community organisations that exist here. I want to encourage all local communities to step up to the challenge of cutting carbon emissions and get involved today."
Notes to editors:
1. Applications will be assessed and shortlisted by the UK Working Group, an advisory group made up of Government officials and external organisations, against the criteria. Criteria can be found at: http://decc.gov.uk/
2. The challenge is scheduled to start in January 2010.
3. By joining up support from across government and beyond, the Low Carbon Communities Challenge will provide easy access to a comprehensive range of services to help communities curb their carbon emissions and promote economic investment. The support will be delivered through a consortium of partners with funding from inside and outside government including: Global Action Plan and Groundwork, Carbon Leapfrog, Energy Saving Trust, The Carbon Trust, WRAP and Salix
4. For media enquiries please contact the DETI Press Office, telephone 028 9052 9297. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
01/10/2009 Renewable electricity plant can power 6,000 homes - Foster
Energy Minister Arlene Foster officially opened Belfast City Council's first landfill gas electricity generating plant, today.
The installation is situated on the former landfill site at the North Foreshore, now known as Giant's Park, and will provide enough renewable electricity to supply around 6,000 households.
Speaking at the event, which was also attended by Belfast Lord Mayor, Naomi Long, the Minister said: "This is a very important milestone for our renewables development. The Giant's Park installation is the largest non-wind renewable generating station to come into operation in Northern Ireland and only the second to produce electricity from landfill gas.
"I look forward to further sites being developed across Northern Ireland, to increase the amount of renewable energy we can harness from landfill gas, an energy source that would otherwise be wasted.
"To facilitate such further development, I announced earlier this month that electricity generated from landfill gas will be provided with a higher level of financial assistance in Northern Ireland, despite significant reductions in the rest of the UK."
The landfill gas that will produce electricity at the Giant's Park is a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane, produced from over 10 million tonnes of waste that has been deposited in the 340 acre site since the early 1970s. It is converted to electricity through five generating plants, each with a capacity of 1megawatt (MW).
The generating station itself is part of a wider redevelopment of the North Foreshore landfill area, which is the largest such project in Europe. It is intended that the development will ultimately incorporate sporting, amenity and educational facilities, alongside the Environmental Resource Recovery Park.
Speaking to an audience including representatives from local government, NIE and the company taking forward the project, 'Renewable Power Systems', Arlene Foster said she is encouraged by the growth in Northern Ireland's renewable energy sector.
The Minister said: "Over the past four years, the amount of electricity being produced from renewable energy sources has more than doubled here and now accounts for over 8% of all electricity consumed.
"Most of this is from wind energy but it is important that we develop more predictable renewable sources, such as landfill gas. This installation in the Giant's Park will help provide the diversity that is so important for our security of supply and will also help us move towards our 2012 target of having 15% of our renewables generation from non-wind sources."
Notes to editors:
1. Belfast City Council's landfill gas generating plant at the North Foreshore landfill site - now known as Giant's Park - is, at 5MW, expected to be the largest such generation site in Northern Ireland. It is also just the second such site to be generate electricity to date; the only other one being the 0.5MW site that opened near Tandragee last year.
2. Landfill gas is produced from the decomposition of biodegradable waste. To prevent its emission into the atmosphere and potential damage to the surrounding area it is normally extracted and channelled to a central point where it can be treated and processed depending on the end use of the gas. If not used to generate electricity it is normally flared off (burned).
3. Electricity generated from landfill gas is classified as renewable and therefore can make a useful contribution both to increasing the amount of indigenous energy generation and to meeting renewables targets. Its use also reduces the environmental impact of its release into the atmosphere.
4. The main support mechanism for renewables generation in Northern Ireland is provided under the Northern Ireland Renewables Obligation (NIRO) in the form of Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) which are issued to renewable generators according to the level of output. The NIRO operates in tandem with similar Obligations in GB and there is a UK-wide market for the ROCs which currently trade at around £50 each and hence provide financial support to the generators. Landfill gas generation in Northern Ireland is eligible to receive 1 ROC for each megawatt-hour (MWh) of output compared to the rest of the UK where the support level is only one-quarter of a ROC.
5. For media enquiries please contact the DETI Press Office on 028 9052 9297. Out of office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
