Dŵr Uisce is shortlisted for the SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards
We are celebrating wonderful news that the Dŵr Uisce project is shortlisted as a finalist for the SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards. Our researchers have dedicated to create new technology which generates sustainable energy for our future generation.
Micro-hydropower energy recovery technology presents a simple and low cost method of reducing the energy consumption in the water supply system. It does so with pumps which are already ubiquitous in water pipe networks, and so are a reliable and easy to maintain solution. It is research based and has been demonstrated in practice. It is a winning entry as there are thousands of small scale potential sites in water networks in Ireland, and even more overseas. In Ireland the energy saving is estimated to exceed 2.1 MW. In Scotland, there are over 5000 such sites. This technology opens up these opportunities and creates a means for improved sustainability in an energy intensive process. Finally the device is remarkably effective, reducing the energy requirements of Blackstairs GWS by a quarter.
It is our honor to be shortlisted as a finalist for the SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards. If successful we would use the €10,000 as a grant to help install similar systems in other group water network sites in Ireland. We have engaged in hydropower feasibility assessments with >20 group water schemes to date and a further 20 have expressed interest in similar assessments. We would like to lead in the installation of a second pilot demonstration, perhaps in the west of Ireland where the rural water sector is more concentrated and outside of the Ireland-Wales Region. This bursary and second demonstrator would hopefully be a catalyst to the public water sector to start installing in-pipe hydropower in the public network, as by far the highest potential for energy saving exists there.