 |
As part of Engineers’ Week, which took place in February,
groups of school students travelled to attend an event
to find out more about renewable energy.
Surprisingly, the event took place not in some state-of-the-art,
ultra-modern, 'green' energy facility, but in
the magnificent fairytale setting of Kylemore Abbey,
which is located on the shore of Lough Pollacappul,
in the heart of the Connemara mountains.
|
Although we might assume that this generation is the first
to come up with clever, clean, sustainable methods of generating
energy, the students who visited Kylemore Abbey discovered
that this isn’t the case.
Since the 1890s, the Abbey has been creating its own green
power using a hydro-electric generator which harnesses energy
from a small mountain stream.
Not only is this generator still working, but the abbey now
creates enough electricity to sell some of it back to the
national grid. If the owners of Kylemore Abbey could generate
renewable energy more than a century ago by tapping into the
natural resources around them, just imagine the potential
that now exists.
Andrew Parish is chief executive of Wavebob,
an Irish company developing a wave energy convertor - the
'Wavebob' - which harnesses the power of the ocean
to produce clean, renewable energy. Parish points out that
Ireland has access to the largest wave energy resources on
the planet off its west coast. This offers “massive opportunities”
in terms of becoming self-sufficient from an energy perspective.
It comes as a refreshing surprise, given the current mood
of discontent in the State, to discover that Parish has nothing
but praise for the supports for his sector.
The Government has chosen to stimulate the indigenous technology
sector in developing methods of exploiting marine energy,
rather than simply importing technology from elsewhere.
For example, the Government has made a sheltered wave energy
test site in Galway Bay available to Wavebob. There is also
a commitment to develop an open ocean grid connection site
- which, Parish says,, is “hugely significant”, as it will
give the company access to “some of the most energetic seas
in the world”.
Wavebob has also received support from a network of Government
agencies - from Sustainable Energy Ireland (which provided
significant grants) and Enterprise Ireland (which now has
a dedicated CleanTech division), to IDA Ireland and the Marine
Institute.
“We have no complaints about the commitment of Government
to this space,” he says. “Very few sectors can say that.”
In addition to the environmental benefits of exploiting our
green energy resources, the sector has the potential to contribute
significantly to the economy and create much-needed employment.
Parish estimates that, over the long-term, the wave energy
industry could create tens of thousands of jobs.
Marina Donohoe heads up Enterprise Ireland’s CleanTech division,
which supports 30-40 companies with a strong export agenda
in the renewable energy sector - including wind energy, marine
renewable energy (both wave and tidal) and biomass energy.
Ireland “absolutely” has the potential to be at the forefront
of this sector, she believes.
For example, Dublin-headquartered OpenHydro
is considered “ahead of the race” in the tidal technology
space and Wavebob has a similar reputation in wave energy
technology, she says.
However, given the amount of money being ploughed into green
stimulus packages around the world at present, the opportunity
must be grasped now. She warns that Ireland will lose its
position unless Irish companies continue to scale up, innovate
and succeed in breaking into international markets.
Of course, none of this is possible without funding, which
has been in short supply of late, given the financial constraints
in Ireland. As a result, many of the Enterprise Ireland-supported
renewable energy companies now have a “very, very serious
appetite” for funding, Donohoe says.
The agency has been working on introducing these companies
to sources of investment, mainly overseas, such as international
CleanTech venture capital (VC) funds.
Last November, Enterprise Ireland brought 15 companies to
an investor forum in London, where they pitched to an audience
of 60 CleanTech VCs and it is hoped that several deals will
come out of this.
Despite the many challenges that exist, there is a lot to
be confident about, she says. Like Parish, she believes that
this sector could become a huge contributor to the economy,
both in terms of exports and employment.
If a career in the green energy sector sounds interesting,
why not persuade your business teacher to take your class
on a field trip to Kylemore Abbey, to find out more about
our heritage in this exciting area?
Watch Declan Gallagher of Oilean
Glas Teo discuss the opportunities on offer to Irish
businesses from renewable resources at irishtimes.com/business/education
or on eoy.tv
- the dedicated website for the series.
Source - The Irish Times
|
