THE ROLE OF MICROGENERATION INIRELAND’S ENERGY FUTURE
Dublin Institute of Technology 13th November 2009
Survey of Microgeneration Technologies ~ Definitions and Potential
Keith Sunderland
Electrical Power Research Group
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Overview
� Context for Microgeneration
� Range and operation of technologies
� Performance of technologies
� Role of microgeneration in domestic context
� Overview of microgeneration in Ireland to Date
� International Comparisons
� Alternatives to microgeneration: solar thermal/GSHP, energy efficiency and insulation
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Defining Microgeneration
� Heat generation: solar water heating, ground source heat pumps, air
source heat pumps, biomass stoves and boilers (e.g. wood and energy
crops e.g. willow)
� Electricity generation: Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, micro-wind
turbines, microhydro systems (in hilly areas or river valleys)
� Combined Heat and Power: MicroCHP (provides heat and electricity
together; many technologies can be used including gas, Stirling
engines, internal and external combustion engines, and fuel cells).
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
The Context for Micro Generation in Ireland
� European Position
– Electrical energy from renewable sources (‘RES Directive’ – 2009/28/EC[1])
• Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
(23rd April, 2009) – Ireland’s target being 15% by 2010
– Directive 2002/91/EC on Energy Performance of Buildings[2]
• Article 5
• Recast proposal
– Directive 2006/32/EC on Energy end-use efficiency and energy services
• EU Action Plan for Energy Efficiency
� Incentives?
– Reliance/Reliability/Cost/Sustainability ~ issues for current energy usage
– Environmental/Social Responsibilities
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� Policy Stakeholders– Commission for Energy Regulation (CER)
• Arrangements for Micro Generation (CER/06/190)[3]
• Demand Side Management and Smart Metering (CER/07/038)[4]
– ESB Networks
• Connection Protocol
• Compliancy issues concerning EN 50438[5]
– The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
• Energy White Paper (March ‘07): ”Delivering a Sustainable Energy future for Ireland”[6]
– Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI)
• “Your Guide to Connecting Micro-generation to the Electricity Network, 2009[7]
The Context for Micro Generation in Ireland
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
The Context for Micro Generation in Ireland
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� In 2007, renewables accounted for 5.1% of the energy inputs to generate
electricity with wind contributing 3.3% of total inputs. Wind accounted for 71% of
the renewable energy used for electricity generation
� Electricity generated from renewable energy accounted for 9.4% of gross
electricity consumption in 2007 – Ireland’s target being 15% for 2010!
� This implies a 74% growth of electricity generation from renewables is required
over the period 2008 - 2010
Energy in Ireland – Key Statiscs 2008[8]
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Consumer Interface Equipment
Utility connection
Distribution Board
Domestic Micro Generation
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Utility connection
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Micro Generation Wind Generation
P[Elec]
1.61.41.21.00.80.60.4
1.4
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
00.2 Wind
Speed [m/s]
Power [W]WIND TURBINE CHARACTERISTIC
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Micro Generation Wind Generation
� Micro Wind issues[9]:
� HAWT / VAWT
� HAWT ~ most common technology in Ireland
� Start generating electricity at c3m/s and depending on the machine will
reach rated output at between 8 and 12m/s.
� Power ratings from hundreds of Watts up to 11kW (3-phase).
� Domestic wind turbines are predominantly rated up to 2.5kW
(although the costs become preclusive with increased power
ratings due to civil and building works)
� If prevailing wind is constant, this could be an efficient, clean energy
solution
� Micro Wind issues:
� Performance Coefficient can range from 0.18 to 0.41 (speculatively based
on manufacturers data)
� Cost effectiveness
� Consensus and uniformity in technology parameters
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Wind Generation Market Status
� SEI Report (2008) on the energy in the Domestic Sector, suggests
that wind energy accounts for the electricity needs of over 647,000
homes[10]
� Planning issues can be significant, e.g. noise, shadow flicker, land
take, impact on flight paths and radar, access roads for installation
and maintenance.
� Obstacles (such as high buildings) can reduce wind speeds
� Wind speed estimates for area topology (cognisant of turbulence
and shearing issues) must be established
� Must be a minimum distance from other buildings
� Integration into electrical supply network …?[11]
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System Losses
Reduction in demand supplied from network,
hence reduction in losses
Voltage Regulation
Injection of power reduces voltage drop or leads
to voltage rise which needs to be maintained with
network limits
Voltage Unbalance
Background voltage unbalance present
Unequal connection/operation of connected
generation, leading to voltage unbalance in
network
Reverse Power Flow
Both real and reactive power flow
Possibly leading to problems with protection and
transformer operation
Fault Levels
Unlikely to be significant increase in fault currents
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Consumer Interface Equipment
Utility connection
Distribution Board
Micro Generation Solar PV
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n-type
Front Contact
Back Contact
LIGHT
p-type
LOAD
PV MODULE CHARACTERISTICModule
Current [A]
Module Voltage [V]
Max Power Range
Cloudy
Partially
Cloudy
Sunny
20151050
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Micro Generation Solar PV
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� Photovoltaics concerns the technology converting light directly into
electrical energy
� Two types:
� Wafer-based silicon; and
� Single crystal and polycrystalline wafer based (Si) is the most common material used in manufacture and accounted for c85% of total production in 2004
� Thin films
� Building orientation and angle of incidence is important
� The electricity is DC and is normally converted to AC for direct use
� The efficiency of PV is normally quoted between 13% to 18% -
being low in efficiency when compared with other clean energy
solutions
� Any potential shading can reduce benefit significantly
� At present even with grants, payback is long but can be reduced where
PV panels are replacing alternative expensive facades
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Solar PV Market Status
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� The current use of solar technologies in Ireland is predominantly low
temperature application such as water heating and space heating which
do not requires direct sunlight.
� Electricity generation from solar technologies is not fully commercialised
or competitive and so this energy is predominantly applied to
navigational aids (road/water) in Ireland
� As of 2006, the installed photovoltaic capacity was 0.3 MW[12]
� The average global insolation values for Ireland range from
2.6kWh/m2/day[12]
� A surface area of 1m2 receives approximately 900 – 1000kWh of
solar energy per year[13]
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Micro Generation Micro CHP
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Micro CHP
Exhaust 5-15%
Elec 30%
Heat 70%
Gass 100%
Utility connection
Micro-CHP fuels:
Gas
Oil
Biomass
Wood-Chip
Hydrogen (Fuel Cells)
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Micro Generation Micro CHP
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� Micro-CHP (combined Heat and Power) involves a gas/Oil/Biomass/Wood-Chip
or Hydrogen fired (e.g. stirling) engine driving an electrical generator that allows
individual homes to generate a proportion of their own electricity supply, whilst
also supplying heat and hot water.
� It is not a clean energy solution but it is highly fuel efficient and has good carbon
displacement properties
� Definition:
� Micro-CHP, maximum capacity 50kWe
� Small-scale CHP, installed capacity below 1MWe
Market Application:
Market Micro Small Scale Large Scale
<50kWe ≥50kWe and ≤1MWe ≥1MWe
Industrial ×
Services × ×
Commercial × ×
District Heating ×
Domestic ×
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Micro CHP Market Status
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� CHP in Europe is about 10% presently with Denmark leading the way at
50% and the Netherlands with 40%
� In Ireland CHP accounts for about 5% share of electricity generation –
mainly industrial 26% of sites but 88% of capacity
SEI, “CHP in Ireland”, February 2006[14]
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Micro CHP Market Status
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� SEI Grant Support
� The Programme will provide the following grant levels depending on the
nature of the project and the technologies involved:
� Up to 40% funding for qualifying CHP feasibility studies;
� Up to 30% investment grant support to eligible small-scale (≥50kWe and <1MWe) fossil-fired CHP projects, limited to the maximum cost per kWe as
defined below:
http://www.sei.ie/Grants/CHP/Grant_Support/
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
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Domestic Micro Generation Utility Connection
� EN50438
� In 2004, CENELEC began to draft – very similar to G83 (UK
Standard)
� ESBN Document: “Conditions Governing Connection and
Operation of Microgeneration”
� Definition of Microgeneration:
� …source of electrical energy and all associated equipment, rated to
and including
� 25A at low voltage [230V], when the DSO network connection
is single-phase
� 16A at low voltage [230/400V], when the DSO network
connection is three-phase
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
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Micro CHP
Exhaust 5-15%
Elec 30%
Heat 70%
Gass 100%
Utility connection
Consumer Load
Distribution Board
Consumer Interface Equipment
Domestic Micro Generation Utility Connection
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
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Domestic Micro Generation Utility Connection
Utility connection
Consumer Load
Distribution Board
Consumer Interface Equipment
Utility Metering
Inverter & Interconnects
N
Earthing
Conductor
63A
Utility Metering
Supply Authority Main Fuse Unit
Main
Protective
Conductor
P
1
0
Main
Fuse MCB MCB
RCD
TEST
1
0
MCB MCB MCB
Consumer Distribution Board
20A6A
0
1
TEST
RCBO6A
I? n = 30mA
20A 20A
I? n = 30mA
40A
Main Earthing
Terminal
Main
Neutral Bar Supplementary
Neutral Bar
Earth Electrode
~
~
+
Technology
Connection
Isolation
Protection (electrical)
Isolation
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Is the chosen technology <5.75kW
(1-ph) 0r 11kW (3-ph)
Interface REquirements?
~ EN50438??
Obtain interface test compliance
from manufacturer/supplier
Complete Notification Form (NC6) and
submit to ESBN (with interface compliance
certificate)
Installation (RECI/ECSSA to
ET101:2008 standards)
Microgeneration technology operational
Instlation can proceed if no instruction to the contrary is received within
20 days of submission to ESBN
Yes?
NO?
See separate guide on conection of
generation onto the Electricity Grid
Connection Standards
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
The Irish Position
� Microgeneration Field Trial
– €2 million budget provision by DCENR
– Approximately 50 trials to be conducted nationwide
– Grant support to contribute to the initial start-up costs for the installation of microgeneration systems
– Ground work for consideration of a set of feed-in-tariff fro electricity produced through microgeneration
� Smart Metering
– EU Directive EC 2006/32 – Article 13
– CER desk-top study, 2007
– ESB Networks Pilot
• Two separate trials
– Customer behaviour Jul ‘09 – Dec ’09 / Jan – Dec ‘10)
– Scopes
• Fuel
• Prepayment
• Load Control
• Microgeneration
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The Irish Position
� Planning Exemptions[15]
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
The Irish Position
� Feed-in-Tariff
– Interim offering which will expire at the end of 2010
– 9c/kWh roughly equivalent to forecast average wholesale price of electricity
in 2009
– Further to the9c/kWhr offering from ESBCS, a further 10c/kWh payment
from ESB will be available to a portion of the output from the first 4,000
microgenerators connecting in the next 3 years.
– The payment will be available to all microgenerators and not just ESB
Customer Supply customers. The 10c/kWh payment will apply to the first
3,000 kWh exported each year for the next 5 years.
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International Comparison
� Energy
– Micropower Europe is a broad-based grouping of companies and organizations
with an interest in the promotion of microgeneration.
• Set up to raise the profile of the EU microgeneration sector and to campaign
for improvements in the legislative and regulatory framework to support the
growth of this important industry.
• Commissioner Piebalgs (Energy Commissioner ) announced that microgeneration will be a key part of the EU’s future energy mix at the launch of Micropower Europe.
– Covenant of Mayors – committed to urban sustainable energy
� Microgeneration Promotion
– Germany
• Share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources has almost
doubled from 6.3 % in 2000 to 12.0 % in 2006.
– Success largely attributed to FiT
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
International Comparison
� FiT[16,17, 18]
– Germany
• Anyone generating electricity from Solar PV, Wind or Hydro gets a guaranteed payment of four times the market rate – c€0.385 per unit – for 20 years!
– France
• The government doubled the base feed-in tariff from €0.15 to €0.30 /kWh with an added 50% tax credit for the cost of the installation
– Spain
• Initially the Feed in tariff of €0.42 encouraged rapid market growth. This has been normalised to c €0.32 so as to achieve a steadier rate of growth
– Italy
• Introduced in 2006, ranging from €0.445 to €0.449/kWh with funding of up to 80% of capital costs
– United Kingdom….
• 36.5p/kWh for small solar photovoltaic systems up to 4kW and 28p/kWh for systems up to 10kW.
• 23.0p/kWh for small wind turbines between 1.5kW and 15kW.
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School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Utility connection
Ground Heat Exchanger
Ground Heat Exchanger
CondensorEvaporator
Heat Distribution
System
Compressor
Heat Pump
Ground Heat Exchanger
Ground Heat Exchanger
CondensorEvaporator
Heat Distribution
System
Compressor
Heat Pump
Heating & Micro-Generation: Ground Source Heat Pumps
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Utility connection
Pump
Hot Water Taps
From
Central Heating
Evacuated Tube PV
Solar Thermal� Using a thermal store offers
the following key benefits:– Mains pressure hot water tank
from an open-vented low-pressure tank (via brazed plate heat exchanger)
– Can accept heat from secondary sources such as wood stove or gas burners
Heating & Micro-Generation: Solar Thermal
School of Electrical Engineering Systems Micro-Generation:
Broader Comparisons
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Domestic Efficiency Measures – estimated costs and savings[19]
School of Electrical Engineering Systems
Barriers to Micro-Generation
� With regard to Microgeneration, terminology ‘trial’ is preclusive
– Implies that technologies are not-tested equipment and that consumers may
be in effect ‘gambling’
� Poor awareness of the benefits of micro generation technologies
• Poor market dissemination
– Funding of 30% for mini CHP and 40% for qualifying CHP feasibility studies is currently available
– Microgeneration Scheme
� Improved forecasting for load and generation
� Carbon incentives
� VAT rates – incentives provided in other countries
� Network inertia
– Momentum of adoption of principals in terms of infrastructure/supply chain
� Technical Issues
� FiT…. Normalisation towards European standards?
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Barriers to Micro-Generation
Energy Saving Trust: Potential for Micro generation Study and analysis, November 2005 http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file27558.pdf[20]
Barrier importance vs. mitigation action timescales.
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REFERENCES
1. DIRECTIVE 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
2. DIRECTIVE 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings, December 2002
3. Arrangements for Micro Generation (CER/06/190)
4. Demand Side Management and Smart Metering (CER/07/038)
5. CENELEC EN 50438 Requirements for the connection of micro-generators in parallel with
public low-voltage distribution networks
6. Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, “Towards a Sustainable
Energy Future for Ireland”, 2006
7. “Your Guide to Connecting Micro-generation to the Electricity Network, 2009
8. Energy in Ireland – Key Statiscs 2008 (SEI Energy Policy Statistical Support Unit)
9. Domestic Energy Supply Technology Review: Current Status and Future Potential, Energy
Policy Research in Domestic Building (DIT)
10. Energy in the Domestic Sector, 2008 Report
11. “Cost and Benefits of Embedded Generation in Ireland”, Report prepared for SEI by PB
Power, September 2004
12. T.E. Agency. Solar Energy Resource report 2007
13. S.E. Ireland. Irish Solar Energy Facts, 2003
14. SEI, “CHP in Ireland”, February 2006
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REFERENCES
15. The Idiots Guide to Renewable Energy Electricity? What you NEED to know!, John Quinn
16. http://www.microgenerationforums.co.uk/uk-feed-in-tariff-microgeneration.html
17. http://www.pv-
tech.org/news/_a/uk_set_to_approve_feed_in_tariff_for_renewable_micro_generation/
18. http://www.greenbuildingpress.co.uk/article.php?article_id=268
19. Integration and Optimisation of Renewables for UK dwellings, Dr. Tony Sun (Barrats Homes
20. Energy Saving Trust: Potential for Micro generation Study and analysis, November 2005
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