Turbotricity

PRESS RELEASE 26th Feb 2009
Minister Eamon Ryan today announced a substantial increase in the rate that the ESB is to pay for electricity purchased from householders with their own wind turbine or other renewable energy system. Last week the Commissioner for Energy Regulation had announced that such electricity would be purchased for 9c per KwHr, but the Minister has now effectively increased that rate to 19c for the first 4,000 turbines to be connected over the next three years.

The subsidy of an extra 10c applies only to the first 3,000KwHrs annually. This means that smaller turbines, or turbines on poorer sites will receive more support, while limiting the support for larger turbines. This may be fair enough because the intention of microgeneration is to meet a households own needs primarily, not just to install a large turbine for exporting to the grid.

We believe that the move will provide an enormous boost, not just for our business, but for many others trying to create Green Collar jobs. At a rate of 9c, we had estimated that our 2.5Kw turbine would be viable on very windy exposed sites – the new tariff substantially increases the number of sites on which domestic wind turbines become viable. The estimated payback time for a turbine on a site with an average wind speed of 6 m/sec is reduced from 17 years to 11 years by the change. For most householders, the change means an increase of over 50% in overall revenue from their turbine.

We have the best wind in Europe, and a high percentage us live in one-off houses built on good wind energy sites. Any turbine with a proven track record on our Atlantic coastline will find easy access to other EU markets, and this is exactly the sort of opportunity we should be developing here. Our business development had been hamstrung, because up to recently the ESB would not buy surplus electricity.

We are keen to ensure that turbines are only sold where they will work, and is critical of companies who, in the past, sold rooftop turbines in housing estates where they produced little or no electricity. The price increase will only make turbines viable in sites that have good wind conditions, and those in doubt should carefully assess their site. A turbine needs to be wide open to wind from any direction between south-west and north-west, and any turbulence from buildings or hedges upwind of it will decimate the productivity of any wind turbine.