Positive Energy District: Net Zero Decarbonising Strabane

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PED is supported by the Smart Cities strand of the Derry Strabane City Deal and that there is a budget of £2m to support its development

26 September 2024 - DEUICC project

**Dr Margaret Quinn**

There was a palpable sense of enthusiasm at the second workshop for the Positive Energy District (PED) for Strabane. A strong turnout of around 40 people came together from across the region including representatives from business, housing, transport, education, university and the local authority, Derry City and Strabane District Council (DCSDC). The objective was to build buy-in for the PED proposal, to identify and align with related initiatives and to kick off discussion on potential supporting technologies.

First of all, what is a PED? It is an “energy-efficient and energy-flexible urban areas or groups of connected buildings which produce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and actively manage an annual local or regional surplus production of renewable energy”. In Strabane PED some new buildings will be a t the core such as a new leisure centre, a new facility for the North West Regional College and a new health hub, all located in Strabane Town centre.

Dr Margaret Quinn of ERNACT opened the event and set the scene by giving an overview of the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) in the North West City region. She highlighted the concept of Local Green Deals (LGD), collaborative agreements between local businesses, social economy stakeholders and local governments, underpinned by digital and clean tech, to support city’s sustainability goals. She noted that the collaboration between the Council and key stakeholders for the Strabane PED is a Local Green Deal. A second Local Green Deal on community composting in Inishowen was also outlined.

Organiser of the event, Louise Breslin Smart City lead for DCSDC noted that it is in a pivotal role to demonstrate public sector leadership on climate action in the area as well as being a key mobiliser of action at a local and community level via the Strabane PED. She explained how the PED is supported by the Smart Cities strand of the Derry Strabane City Deal and that there is a budget of £2m to support its development.

Discussions were facilitated by two experts appointed by ICC: Dr Adrian Pugsley from Ulster University, an expert in the building of integrated energy systems, photovoltaics, solar thermal, and energy storage and also Dr Ruchira Ghosh, a Research Associate in Acceptability Low Carbon Technologies and is focussed on social dimensions of the green transition.

Adrian explained the PED concept and supporting pillars of reduce energy consumption, generate via renewables, store energy, and connect with smart electric grid. He also walked through 3-year staged progressions to 2030-2035 when fossil fuels could be completely eliminated.

The event continued with two panels led by Ruchira. The first panel had experts from key sectors including public, transport, education, community and business. The entities involved were: Robert Clements, Head of Sustainable Development, Northern Ireland Housing Executive: Tony McDaid, Assistant Service Delivery Manager, Translink; Adrian Kennedy, Head of Quality, Safety, Health and Environment, Education Authority; Jarlath McNulty, Manager of Strabane Health Improvement Project/ Vice Chair of Strabane Growth Partnership; Kieran Kennedy, Chair, Strabane Business Improvement District; Simon Doran, Capital Development Project Manager, Derry City and Strabane District Council.

The panellists outlined their strategies, actions and initiatives towards net zero as well as their key challenges. Funding was mentioned multiple times as a challenge along with infrastructure including EV-charging facilities and the electricity network. In the community sector, understanding of the potential for cost savings and the technologies was felt to be a challenge. The panel view was that Heat Networks are crucial in the PED.

The second panel, again facilitated by Ruchira, focussed on the potential technologies and solutions that can support the PED. The panellists included Adrian Pugsley- Ulster University, Prof. Simon Todd -Causeway Energies (specialising in geothermal, solar, battery storage), Patrick Doherty PJD London -a local business owner and BT/Openreach. Adrian discussed Photovoltaic (PV), PV-Thermal and storage combinations. The potential of geothermal, hydro and river thermal for the PED was outlined by Simon Todd. Patrick Doherty highlighted the ECO4 approach for building retrofit and emphasized the challenge that high street businesses face with difficult trading conditions and the importance of energy bill reduction to lower fixed costs. Sean Donnelly mentioned Openreach assets “Green Boxes” that could be used for roadside EV charging and the potential of other assets for battery storage space.

Daniel Purdy of Invest NI gave the group an overview of the supports available to businesses on energy and resource efficiency, Louise Breslin shared the opportunity of the Sustainable Communities Building Fund (deadline 23 October) with grants of up to £50K for the voluntary sector for improving building energy performance reducing energy bills and environmental action plans. Carol Ann Doherty of Derry/Strabane Council covered some related initiatives such as “Go Succeed” masterclasses, sustainability classes with grant funding to £4K. Adrian Davis of AD Sustainability expanded on these masterclasses in which businesses can access expertise on carbon planning, sustainability planning and avail of grants.

The next steps will be to develop a plan for the PED and the Local Green Deal for signature.

Watch the video.

Click here to email Maixa Zabaleta at ERNACT for further information

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