This past year has seen unprecedented energy price increases and the cost pain on farms and businesses is set to continue for the foreseeable future.
Renewable technologies such as solar PV, wind and anaerobic digestion will all need to be supported and deployed and, the economics and paybacks as a result of high energy prices are going to help driving this transaction like never before.
Every farm and business in the country is going to look at installing solar PV to generate electricity and reduce their costs, and it is understood that the government is planning to support this with grants at farm level and it is critically important that the new supports are in place for January 2023 at the latest.
The tax benefits are also significant, with the vat refundable for non-registered businesses and 100% accelerated capital allowances meaning that sole traders can get over 50% tax right off in the year of the investment. Companies benefit from 12.5% tax right off.
Local Power Ltd. is very keen to see the current solar PV restrictions on size etc. under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) supports removed in any new grant support scheme.
The company believes that there should be no limit to what size of system a farmer installs as long as it complies with ESB network grid connection rules and relates to energy used on the farm.
Reference costs must reflect current technology prices it said, and grant support should apply to all of the energy consumed on the farm, including any energy used by the farm home which is currently excluded.
Local Power believes that farmers should be allowed to export surplus energy to the grid without restriction and get paid at least a market related price for it.
Visit Local Power Ltd. at stand 199 at the ploughing. Or for more information, email: [email protected].
Battery storage
Local Power believes that battery storage needs to be strongly supported with at least 60% grants by the government. This is to ensure that the economics stack up for investment and farms are empowered to optimise the renewable energy generation and use on their farms.
This will also benefit the grid by helping to balance energy demands during peak use times, the company added.
Batteries will help farms optimise self-usage of energy generated by buffering between usage and generation. Their impact can be disproportionate to their size in optimising self-consumption of renewable energy.
For example, on a conventional dairy farm the main energy use is morning and evening yet the main generation time for solar PV will be during the daytime hours. This surplus daytime energy can be diverted to heating water, charging an EV machine or car or to battery storage or exported to the grid where there is now a market related payment of between 14 and 20c/kWh.
Battery technology has come on in leaps and bounds in the past few years in efficiency and dependency and while the costs have not dropped as expected the benefits of investing in them has significantly improved.
For solar PV investment chose the best choose Solarwatt glass technology. Discuss this further with Local Power at its stand (199) at the National Ploughing Championships. For more information email: [email protected].
Battery systems
Local Power has tested a number of battery systems over the past few years and some have disappointed and have had to be replaced.
However, that research is now paying dividends and the Fronius-BYD hybrid battery solution is delivering a reliable and robust solution, enabling farms to store energy from solar during the day for discharge in the evening and then to recharge the batteries during night-time on cheaper electricity for discharge in morning.
Key metrics in researching battery storage options for your business include charge and discharge capacity, technology, warranties, degradation, management ease, and of course cost.
In relation to sizing, you need to understand the charge and discharge capacities. For example, a 10kwh battery system may only charge and discharge at 2kW/hr as others may be much higher.
Also, the percentage discharge may be as low as 85-90%kW. The Fronius BYD solution can charge-discharge on single phase connections by up to 6kw/hr and up to 9kW/hr with three phase connections and more depending on system size.
On costs, the economics are difficult to justify unless the government steps in with solid grant supports to assist said Local Power. Without grant support, Local Power estimates the paybacks on a hybrid battery storage system to be in excess of 12 years which is way too long. With a 60% grant support these paybacks drop to below five years – which is very bankable.
Indeed there is potentially a huge win for the government by supporting the deployment of battery storage systems widely across all stakeholders in society. The mass deployment of battery storage even to allow farms and businesses store cheaper nighttime energy for deployment during peak energy use times would play a major role in grid load balancing and ensuring energy security into the future.
In addition, the Fronius BYD battery system can be set up to provide an emergency supply to certain circuits , assuming battery charged, in case of an outage. There are limitations in relation to this option but it is a consideration in some situations.
Think about it: If every farm in the country had 20kwh of battery storage charged during the day from renewable energy and night time from night rate for discharge between 5:00p.m and 7:00p.m at night and 8:00a.m and 10:00a.m in the morning, it would reduce peak time energy demand on the grid by circa 5,000,000kWh/day.
That is massive and worth supporting, Local Power said.
Pat Smith, managing director of Local Power Ltd. looks forward to welcoming everyone to stand 199 at the National Ploughing Championships.
Local Power is a proud renewable energy partners of AXA insurance at the event, it said.
For more information, contact Local Power by clicking here.
