At the end of July, IT Sligo hosted a webinar that outlined some of the key steps in development for small-scale renewable electricity projects from 50 kW to up to 500 kW.
In the webinar Martin Beirne from Polecat Group Water Scheme spoke about their experiences from planning a 150 kW solar PV system. The Polecat GWS has become the first GWS to use renewable energy to directly power its water treatment plant. The community group in Polecat installed a 50kW Solar photovoltaic (PV) system to reduce the overall running costs of the water scheme by approx. 70 %. They have permission to install another 100 kW.
This was followed by an introduction to grid connection process in Ireland by Mullan Grid which is an electrical engineering consultancy specialising in the grid connection of renewable generators.
Lastly, John Fogerty from the Ireland's first community-owned licensed electricity supplier, Community Power, spoke about sale of electricity and development of community-owned Templederry wind farm.
The event was recorded and can be watched on Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn1TBHNNDTo
