Here in Ireland, we have been making progress on this journey, the roll out of a network of public CNG fuelling stations has had an impact on meeting the demand from transport companies.

Most European cities have implemented CNG bus fleets.  In Ireland we saw our first CNG bus trial in Cork at the end of March 2019. In Oct 2019 a customer of Flogas Enterprise (Formerly Naturgy) Virginia Logistics were the first haulier in Ireland to complete a zero carbon Heavy Goods Vehicle’s (HGV) delivery to Europe. The trucks were fuelled by Flogas Enterprise compressed renewable gas also known as Bio Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to transport freight to the continent.

Public and private CNG refuelling stations are rolling out in the Irish market. There are currently seven CNG stations operational in Ireland and a further pipeline of nine stations are in planning and development with many haulage companies now establishing their own CNG fuelling stations and this trend is expected to continue in 2022.  Hauliers are placing orders to update their HGV fleets to CNG to reduce their carbon footprint and make a difference in terms of the emission levels coming from the transport sector.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)

20% of Ireland’s total CO2 emissions comes from transport. This is the emissions from all cars and vans as well as heavy goods vehicles and bus fleets on our roads.

Of all the vehicles on the road in Ireland, 3% of these vehicles produce 20% of the emissions. These are the HGV’s and Bus fleets. This represents a huge opportunity for Ireland to make a difference in reducing our C02 emissions over the coming years.

CNG is a solution that can target the 17,000 HGVs and 10,000 buses currently on our roads in Ireland. Even by achieving a 25% conversion rate from diesel to CNG there is potential to eliminate 676,000 tonnes of CO2 using renewable gas which is the equivalent to removing 360,000 diesel cars.

The European & National Policy Alternative Fuels Directive Oct 2014 states that member states need to develop policies to promote alternative fuels in transport. This directive places binding objectives on Member States to develop necessary infrastructure including publication of a National Policy Framework.

The transport fuel business in Ireland is worth €3.5 billion per year and all from imported fuels. The opportunity is to use indigenous gas that comes from Corrib as well as future renewable gas production developed in Ireland to make a major impact on reducing our carbon emissions. This way we are ensuring our transport sector plays a part in Ireland reaching its 2030 emission targets.

Benefits of CNG to hauliers are; CNG produces the fewest emissions of all other fuels and contains significantly less pollutants than diesel. Traditionally CNG emits less CO2 than diesel and historically has shown substantial saving costs compared to diesel. This along with the potential to reduce maintenance costs as using a cleaner fuel means that the argument to move to CNG is very strong for transport companies.

Proven Technology

CNG is a proven technology and has seen strong growth throughout Europe over the past decade. It is not unusual to see CNG trucks across Europe and as this is an accepted from of fuel for most transport companies. Germany alone has 850 public CNG fuelling stations with many large haulage companies also having their own private fuelling stations. Fast fill CNG stations ensure that trucks can refill within 10 – 15 minutes like a diesel refill time.

Worldwide there are currently 19 million CNG vehicles on the road, Ireland is only just buying into the benefits of this technology. With the opening of numerous CNG fuelling stations in Ireland we will see this change quickly over the coming years. There are ambitious plans to have a network of public CNG fuelling stations in place across Ireland and this will be driven by demand from the transport sector, Gas Networks Ireland roll out plans and government policy.

Transport and Renewable Gas

Renewable gas (Biomethane) production will increase in Ireland over the coming years. Getting access to this renewable gas will be of huge significance to making an environmental impact on our transport emissions. Renewable gas will be a key source for CNG in the coming years as using renewable gas will have a massive impact on emission targets for the transport sector.

The recently published Climate Action Plan 2021 states that Ireland wishes to produce 1.6 TWh per annum of renewable gas for injection into the grid by 2030. The transport sector in Ireland has an opportunity to use this renewable gas as part of the CNG fleet and reduce their sector carbon footprint significantly.

As a roadmap for the transport sector, it is possible that hydrogen may become the primary fuel for transportation at some point in the future. Until then, CNG and renewable gas are the bridge to a hydrogen and zero carbon objective.

Flogas Enterprise  supplies 100% renewable electricity and works with various stakeholders to ensure a clean energy future for Ireland working with our customers in Ireland and Northern Ireland with a renewable energy strategy that suits their business needs.

Barry Murph, Commercial Director, Flogas Enterprise

Contact the team and learn how we can meet your energy needs: enterprise@flogas.ie  + 353 1 884 9400.

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Thankfully this is beginning to change.  Solar PV will play a bigger part in Ireland’s renewable generation mix over the coming years, following the recent Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) auctions.

Global Picture

Solar PV as a technology has been well established as a renewable source of energy globally and has specific advantages as an energy source. Once installed, its operation generates no pollution or greenhouse gas emissions, it is scalable and predictable in terms of power generation.

Advances in technology, as well as increased manufacturing scale, have reduced the cost, increased the reliability and increased the efficiency of solar PV installations.

Financial incentives, such as feed-in tariffs for large scale solar generated electricity, have supported solar PV installations in many countries. To date over 100 countries have significantly invested in Solar PV as a key element of their renewables energy strategy.

In 2019, worldwide installed PV capacity increased to more than 635 (GW) covering approximately two percent of global electricity demand.

The PV industry has seen dramatic drops in prices since 2008. This has helped to ensure a strong return on investment for projects.

Financial incentives have also been offered to electricity consumers to install and operate smaller scale Solar PV systems across the globe. Governments have offered incentives to encourage the PV industry to achieve the economies of scale needed to compete i.e. where the cost of solar PV generated electricity is above the cost from the existing grid. Such schemes are implemented to promote national renewable energy policies and support the reduction of carbon emissions.

Due to economies of scale and as manufacturers increase production to meet demand, the cost and price is expected to drop further in the years ahead, making solar PV an even more attractive option for renewable grid generation and end-user onsite generation.

Local Picture

In Ireland we have lagged behind other countries in implementing solar PV projects. Ireland has long hours of daylight to capitalise on; we are ideally placed to get high values from solar PV as the light level is very good, especially so when seasonal light is at its peak; This makes solar PV a great long term and sustainable renewable energy option for Ireland.

Recently, solar projects secured almost 800MW of generation capacity from Ireland’s first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), exceeding all expectations.

The RESS auction had been expected to grant just 10% of its capacity to solar PV, equivalent to somewhere in the region of 100 – 300MW. However, solar PV performed well against competing technologies, securing 34% of the overall auction volume.

Solar PV accounts for a total of 63 projects in RESS with a total generating capacity of 796MW, and a strike price of €72.92/MWh. Ireland will expect to see a lot of these solar PV projects rolled out across the country over the coming years and they will form an integral element in ensuring Ireland meets its 2030 goal, which is 70% of the electricity fuel mix coming from renewable sources.

The map below shows the location of solar PV projects successful in the first RESS auction in 2020.

Onsite generation

We are now seeing more and more industrial and commercial organisations implementing solar PV solutions onsite. These can be roof mounted or land mounted installations.

With the cost of solar PV reducing over the last number of years, commercially it makes more sense for organisations to generate their own electricity. This ensures that they reduce their grid energy bills and more important they are playing a significant role in reaching their own carbon reduction and sustainability targets.

Payback periods for onsite solar PV generation can now be between 5 to 6 years. This is well down on the 10 to 15 years payback period not too long ago. This option will become more and more compelling to organisations in Ireland over the coming years.

Solar PV will play a bigger part in Ireland’s renewable strategy over the coming decades. Combined with onshore and offshore wind, Ireland should be in a good position within Europe as a leader in renewable electricity generation.

If you would like to speak to Flogas about a solar PV project or any other energy projects, please contact Barry Murphy at: barry.murphy@flogasenterprise.ie or +353-1-884 9400.

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Like many areas within the energy sector, the lighting industry is currently in the midst of change. Older technologies are being replaced with energy efficient LED lighting. Reduced cost of lighting, higher quality products and significant energy conservation are key factors contributing to the growth. Businesses are keener than ever to find innovative, green solutions to meet their energy needs.

Lighting as a Service (LaaS) allows businesses to treat their commercial lighting needs as a managed service with chosen providers’ designing, installing and maintaining luminaries and lamps. Globally, the lighting as a service market is expected to experience a growth rate of 48% to reach a total market size of $750 million by 2022, increasing from $71 million in 2017.

The introduction of LEDs, with their long lifespans, low maintenance requirements and reduced energy costs has led to a complete overhaul in the way businesses acquire lighting assets. For this reason, a lighting revolution is taking place across the world and Ireland is embracing it with open arms!

Here in Ireland, the market has experienced rapid growth also, as large organisations realise the potential that lighting as a service can bring to their business and to their bottom line.  Lighting projects can deliver energy savings of up to 70-80% compared to older lighting technologies and can greatly help to meet sustainability and energy efficiency targets. A standard gymnasium switched over to LED lighting  and after the contract the gym was saving 67% on lighting costs compared to the original situation.

Across the continent, a number of EU governments have adopted initiatives that support energy efficient lighting systems, encouraging organisation’s to be proactive in their efforts to help reduce energy usage, as we move towards a low carbon future.  Recently a customer of Flogas Enterprise has saved 90 tonnes of CO2 over the course of the contract by implementing  this measure.

The Future

Governments are also keen to develop and foster new ways of creating smart and green cities of the future which require more advanced and sustainable infrastructure. In light of this, (pun intended!) we should see an increase in the level of lighting solutions offered by local governments for streets, open public spaces, walkways, bridges, public parking areas and motorways.

With an ever increasing focus on business and our environmental footprint, lighting as a service is a simple way to reduce energy waste and usage.

Flogas Enterprise Solas

Flogas, the energy experts, are offering customers a new LED lighting service called Solas. Flogas Enterprise will design a tailor-made lighting as a service solution for your business by selecting and installing the best technology to suit your business needs, and carrying out continued maintenance. This means you can focus on what matters – your business.

For more information on Solas contact Ciaran Gahan by email Ciaran.gahan@flogasenterprise.ie by telephone on 01 8849400.

Find out more about Flogas Enterprise‘s Lighting as a Service.

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