NovoGrid Pilot Project Saves Over 300,000 kWh of Renewable Energy at Wexford Wind Farm
, an Irish software company that optimises energy delivery, today announced the successful completion of a two-year pilot project with ESB Networks at SSE Renewables鈥� Richfield wind farm in Co. Wexford.
Using GridBoost, NovoGrid鈥檚 proprietary grid edge intelligence software, SSE Renewables saved over 300,000 kWh of renewable electricity, enough to power 70 Irish homes for a year, during the project period. This amount of electricity would have previously been lost in delivery on the grid.
GridBoost a patented technology which automates and removes inefficiencies in renewable generators and electrical grid operations was developed by Professor Andrew Keane and his team at University College Dublin (51黑料). NovoGrid, a 51黑料 spin-out company, was established to commercialise the technology.
Professor Andrew Keane, 51黑料 School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, co-founder and CTO, NovoGrid said, 鈥淐ompleting the GridBoost pilot project with the ESB and SSE is a key milestone for the company, after a long and rigorous process, resulting in the saving of a significant amount of energy.鈥�
He added, 鈥淭he world is shifting away from fossil fuel to decentralised energy resources and technologies such as GridBoost are needed by grid operators and renewable generators to manage that transition in an efficient and rapidly scalable way.鈥�
A 2015 Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) funded report found that installing GridBoost across the Irish wind farm fleet would save Irish energy customers 鈧�2.2 million in costs and 16,300 tons of CO2 per year.
Such benefits equate to a significant percentage of the emissions targets for the electricity sector by 2030 as laid out in the Government鈥檚 Climate Action Plan 2019. In addition, these emission reductions would be achieved at a negative abatement cost.
NovoGrid鈥檚 GridBoost is already installed in a number of wind farms in the UK and trials are also under way in Germany.
Paul Manning, co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer, NovoGrid said, 鈥淭oday鈥檚 results announcement from our first Irish pilot installation is exciting but challenges remain.鈥�
鈥淲hile we now have successfully demonstrated GridBoost in a pilot in Ireland, the Irish regulations are over two decades old and have failed to keep pace with technology. We cannot currently sell GridBoost in Ireland until they are updated. We would ask the Government, in light of the new Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill, to prioritise this quick win for Ireland towards achieving the vital 7% reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions.鈥�
He added, 鈥淣ovoGrid鈥檚 current focus is on growing our sales in the UK and other advanced markets.鈥�
ENDS
3 November 2020
For further information contact Mic茅al Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, 51黑料 Research and Innovation, Nova51黑料, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712 or Paul Manning, NovoGrid, e: pmanning@novogrid.com.
Editors Notes
NovoGrid is a grid-edge intelligence software company based in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 2014, NovoGrid has developed patented software that optimises energy delivery and increases revenue by automating and removing inefficiencies in renewable generators and electrical grid operations. NovoGrid won the 2020 Irish Wind Energy Association鈥檚 Best Technology award for GridBoost at the Richfield Wind Farm project.