Electricity Exchange Receive SEAI Funding To Demonstrate Low-Cost Monitoring And Control System
The team at VIOTAS (formerly Electricity Exchange) are delighted to officially announce that we have been awarded funding to demonstrate the capability of one of our new product ranges. The new government fund, which was announced on Monday 10th September by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten T.D is part of an €8 million support package that has been sanctioned by the Irish government as part of its plan to combat climate change.
Mr. Naughten stated that he hopes “the fund will grow significantly in the coming years” as Ireland continues to create and invest in renewable energy that will power residential and industrial sectors of the economy.
Our project lead, Jamie Ross, was ecstatic to receive the news that the funding was secured as it will now allow us to demonstrate the product in real life instances. He added that having the backing of a government body like SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland) shows that we are heading in the right direction and we know we will have support for the product going forward. Jamie believes this product will change how industries utilize renewable energy products and will make the deployment of renewables easier than ever before.
Dr Paddy Finn, MD, expressed his delight at the news stating that such funding proves that Electricity Exchange is continuing to move in the right direction in terms of forward-thinking innovation and quality products. The secured funding for the ‘Low Cost Monitoring and Control of Small-Scale Renewables’ project is just one of the products within our new product line that will go live in the next six to nine months’. This funding is an incredible step for the team here as we continue to look to the future.
Duncan O’Toole, Commercial Director, believes this is the first step in commercialising this product range. Being able to announce that we have secured this funding allows us to focus on delivering more market leading products which will enable the increased utilisation of renewables on a larger scale. Our team continues to work incredibly hard to ensure expectations are met and with more exciting releases to follow this is an incredibly important time for Electricity Exchange.
About our Project.
Low Cost Monitoring and Control of Small Scale Renewables is one of forty five projects that has been awarded funding as part of the newly announced government funding initiative.
The objective of the R&D program is to demonstrate a low-cost solution for microgeneration users, which provides EirGrid with real-time data and control of a solar generation systems, replacing conventional Remote Terminal Units (RTUs).
This will provide greater grid integration for small-scale renewables, increasing grid stability, while minimising costs to both the user and the Transmission System Operator.
We plan on demonstrating this capability in a real-life test environment, by installing and operating a PV microgeneration system with battery storage. This will be integrated with both the IoTAS and IoTAS Pulse Lite units to validate EirGrid integration and control capabilities.
The successful demonstration of our new technologies will provide EirGrid with a practical and affordable DS3 solution for small scale renewables. This solution can be rolled out faster and without the challenges of the current Smart Meter program which will see an immediate impact on the market.
The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment’s full press release can be found linked below, along with a list of the other projects and institutions that received funding as part of the plan.
