The Ballaghaderreen Town Team, supported by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, and Roscommon County Council, commissioned a full study of the energy uses of all sectors of the town. This study also measured the carbon emissions produced by this energy use. Energy Co-operatives Ireland Ltd  has completed this report which provides a roadmap for reducing this energy use and generating as much as possible locally and sustainably.

Ballaghaderreen has the capacity to create 9MW of community owned renewable energy generation project – today. That’s 25% of its electrcity demand. No planning permissions or complex grid upgrades needed.

Find Out More Below>>

Save Energy, Cut Costs and reduce emissions – start from your home

Which of these homes in Ballaghaderreen is like yours? Find out how it could be made energy efficient

Many people qualify for fully funded upgrades – 100% grant supported

What Supports are there for you to start your home future-proofing journey?

Individual Energy Upgrade Grants

Typical costs of home improvements and the grants available to make them affordable

Individual actions for homeowners

…some quick and easy sustainability ‘wins’ to save you energy and money as well as reducing carbon emissions

Step 1: Do Your Own Audit:

• Check windows, external doors, vents, floor spaces, fireplaces, and stoves with a stick of incense: and track down and eliminate draughts.
• Check insulation levels in attic, basement, walls (including the meter box), and floors
• Check your boiler and stove; what age are they? When were they last serviced?
• Collect energy bills and scrutinise them over a year.
• To save money in the short term see if you need to change your electricity supplier.

Step 2: Actions to save 12% of your energy costs and fossil fuel use:

• Turn everything off – don’t leave on standby (2%)
• Use a clothes line when possible – no tumble dryer (7%)
• Wash clothes @ 30 degrees (1%)
• Turn off lights when not in a room, replace bulbs with highest rated LEDs possible (A+ read the lables not all LEDs are the same) – change as they go so as to spread the cost (2%).

Step 3: Save energy by thinking about the way you control and use heat

• Maintain room temperature 190C (this can save up to €350 every year for each degree lower you heat the house)
• Close the curtains at dusk to keep heat in the room that would otherwise be lost through the cold windows, and you could save up to 10% of your heating costs.
• Consider fitting shelves above radiators as they redirect the warm air that rises from them back into the room.
• Ventilate your house 3 to 5 minutes, a couple of times a day, instead of opening windows a little bit all day. Shut off your heating, during ventilation. This can reduce heat loss by 16%.
• Bleed your radiators regularly. If there is air in your radiator your boiler burns longer. Always start with the lowest and end with the highest radiator.

Home Retrofits: Make your home cozier, save money and reduce carbon emissions

Non-Domestic Buildings Support scheme for energy audits

Includes Schools, Community Buildings, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): Many of these can achive 30% energy and cost reductions quickly without having to spend a lot

Eligibility

Businesses applying to the scheme must be:

• non-obligated entities
• tax compliant
• registered in the Republic of Ireland
• spend at least €10,000 on energy (exclusive of transport energy costs) per year at the site being audited
• There is a limit of 1 audit voucher per Applicant/Company

A 9MW distributed power plant in Ballaghaderreen

There are a large number of approaches to pay for the installations discussed below.

Photovoltaic (PV) in the home: make your own electricity and save money

A domestic solar PV system consists of a number of solar panels mounted to your roof (or in your garden or adjacent field) and connected into the electrical loads within your building. Solar PV systems are rated in kilowatts (kWp). A 3kWp solar PV system would require about 12 solar panels on your roof needing about 8m² of space, and will generate about 2,900 units of electricity (kWh) a year.

Since you pay about €0.31 per kWh to your electricity provider, a 3kW PV panel system  (if the home is occupied during the day) could save the homeowner about €637 per year. There would also be an additional payment from the Clean Export Guarantee (CEG) Tariff (of up to €140 per year in this case). On an installation costing €4,800 (nett of SEAI grant of €1,600) this would achieve a simple payback of 6.1 years.

There is a significant grant incentive available from the SEAI for PV installation for homeowners. The full details are available at this link.

Ballaghaderreen SEC Solar Meitheal

Members of the Greystones and Delgany SEC Solar Meitheal, Co. Wicklow. PIC: greystonesgreenenergy.ie

Express your interest in joining a Solar Meitheal in the Ballaghaderreen SEC area

Decarbonising Ballaghaderreen with PV: Two Approaches

SME Energy Savings Case 2 – The Shop

A Hardware shop in Westmeath found out how to reduce it’s enegy bills by 93%(!) achieving a payback on efficiency measures of 5.2 years while reducing emissions by 11 tonnes of CO2.