Donegal farms, businesses and homes could all benefit if the Government introduces new schemes to promote and incentivise the development of wind microgeneration.
2kw Micro Wind Turbine
The Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) maintains this could bring significant benefits to rural communities.
Microgeneration is the production of energy on a small scale for farms, businesses or domestic homes.
Typical microgeneration technologies include Wind Turbines, Solar Photovoltaic, Hydro Power and Combined Heat & Power (CHP) with equipment ratings below 11kW.
Speaking at IWEA’s recent annual conference in Kilkenny, Caitriona Diviney, Chief Operations Officer of IWEA said that electricity costs rank among the main overheads for farms, businesses, and homes, and that more wind microgeneration could help significantly reduce costs, whilst offering an opportunity to earn additional income by contributing the surplus electricity generated to the national grid.
“When compared to neighbouring countries such as the UK, the significant potential for wind microgeneration in Ireland, and Donegal in particular, still remains relatively untapped. Locally generated electricity can be yet another guaranteed Irish product, and can give farms, businesses and homeowners more control over their own electricity production.”
“We believe greater wind microgeneration can lead to more sustainable rural livelihoods and form part of the solution to reduce Ireland’s overall carbon emissions.”
The full text of the new IWEA ‘Wind Microgeneration Step by Step Guide’ is available for download on the IWEA website at www.iwea.com.
(Souirce – Donegal Now – 13/10/2014)