David Maguire, Chairman, ISEA

Speaker Bio

David Maguire is Founder and Director of BNRG Renewables, which he set up in 2007 as a renewable energy development company specialising in utility scale solar PV projects. The Company develops, constructs and is owner operator of large scale solar projects.

BNRG has developed and constructed a significant portfolio of projects with a value in excess of £200m and has operations in four countries across three continents. The Company has a development portfolio of over 400MW in the US and Republic of Ireland.

An environmental scientist by profession (BSc, MA and MSc), David has over 20 years' experience in the environmental and renewable energy sectors. He has been Chairman of Irish Solar Energy Association since 2013 and a founding member of the European Industry AFASE Group. 

Joseph Curtin, Senior Research Fellow, IIEA

Speaker Bio

Joseph Curtin is Senior Research Fellow with responsibility for climate change policy at IIEA, and project leader of the Climate-Smart Agriculture project. Over the past decade, he has worked for the OECD, Ireland’s National Economic and Social Council (an advisory council to the Irish Prime Minister) and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. He has published papers on climate finance, energy efficiency, climate smart agriculture as well as assessments of the climate policies of Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Israel for the OECD. He has also published on EU and UN climate policy, and drafted reports to Government on Irish climate policy development for NESC. He is a regular contributor to national and international media on climate economics and policy, and has presented to Irish Parliament on numerous occasions, as well as to numerous OECD Ministers for Environment on their national climate policy development. He is particularly interested in exploring the co-benefits of ambitious climate action.

Presentation Abstract

The decarbonisation of Ireland’s electricity sector is at an important turning point. Up to now low carbon development has been reliant to the deployment of one technology—wind turbines; in one place—on-shore; and at one scale—relatively large. Against this backdrop, a new support scheme for renewables is under consideration, and negotiation of the EU’s energy package are on-going.

In his presentation, Joe Curtin will assess the implications of these recent policy developments. He will interpret what they tell us about the likely speed of decarbonisation, the levels of technological diversity to expect, and the extent to which citizens and communities are likely to be involved in the next phase of power system decarbonisation in the period to 2030.

Nick Holman, Director, BNRG Renewables

Speaker Bio

Prior to joining BNRG, Nick spent 17 years working in Asia, Europe and the Middle East as an International Manager for the HSBC Group. During this time, Nick has performed a diverse number of senior roles including running HSBC’s Trade and Supply Chain business in Paris, project managing the establishment of a Business Process Outsourcing centre in the Philippines and leading HSBC’s global trade finance transformation project in Hong Kong. He completed the Mid-Career Master’s in Public Administration programme at the Harvard Kennedy School where he focused on Infrastructure Finance, Innovation and Microfinance. Nick also holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Trinity College Dublin.

Jim Gannon, CEO, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

Speaker Bio

Oisín Coghlan, Director, Friends of the Earth Ireland

Speaker Bio

Oisín Coghlan has been Director of Friends of the Earth Ireland since 2005. Oisín is on the steering committee of the Environmental Pillar, the advocacy coalition of national environmental NGOs, and sits on the National Economic and Social Council (NESC). Before joining Friends of the Earth, Oisín worked for 10 years in the areas of overseas aid and human rights.

Oisín's primary degree was Sociology and Political Science in Trinity and he has a Masters in International Relations from DCU. He was elected to the Royal Irish Academy Committee for Climate Change Sciences in 2009 and served a 4 year term. Read why Oisin thinks your support for our work on climate change is so important .

Eamon Ryan TD, Leader, Green Party

Speaker Bio

Eamon Ryan was elected to represent Dublin Bay South in the 2016 General Election. He was born in Dublin and raised in Dundrum and Dartry. He studied commerce in UCD before taking a job managing a marketing course in the university’s School of Business. He went on to found a cycling tourism company, Irish Cycling Safaris, in the late 1980's and in 1996 won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. The business still trades successfully as Cycling Safaris. He was the founding chairperson of the Dublin Cycling Campaign and began his political career as a Dublin City Councillor for the Rathgar – Rathmines ward. He then went on to serve both as a TD for Dublin South and as a Government Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

In recent years, Eamon has worked for a European climate organisation (www.e3g.org) and chaired the digital policy group in the Institute of International and European Affairs (www.iiea.com). He is currently leader of the Green Party/Comhaontas Glas (www.greenparty.ie) and is married to writer Victoria White, they have four children.

Michael Hayes, Partner, KPMG

Speaker Bio

Michael (Mike) advises clients in the Renewable Energy, Infrastructure and Asset Management sectors (principally Alternative Investments). He focuses on domestic and international corporate tax advisory (and is a specialist in inbound US tax planning). Mike is part of the global leadership team for tax on KPMG's Renewable Energy group and is also a member of the Firm’s Global Steering Group for Alternative Investments. Mike is also the global adviser for one of the largest US based asset managers and also a number of other Irish and international asset managers.

Eamonn Confrey, Assistant Principal, DCENR

Speaker Bio

Eamonn Confrey is the Principal Officer, Decarbonisation Policy Division of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE), where he is responsible for promoting the sustainability of energy supply and demand, and by delivering progressively on renewable energy targets, in line with the National Renewable Energy Action Plan. He was previously head of the Energy Security Division. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from University College Dublin and a Higher Diploma in Information Technology from NUI, Maynooth.

Presentation Abstract

David Maguire, Chairman, ISEA

Speaker Bio

John is one of Ireland’s leading business figures having successfully led Bord Gais for over five years during which time he increased revenues and profits while modernizing all aspects of its operations, client relations and corporate culture. His career in the energy sector stands out for its unique combination of international development of energy assets and strategic leadership. John’s career also demonstrates ability to bridge the demands of dealing with the public and private sectors so that leadership, funding and management make high profile projects viable for all parties. 

Nick Robb, Head of Development Ireland, Lightsource Renewable Energy

Speaker Bio

Nick has been with Lightsource since its inception in 2010 as the company has grown into Europe’s leading solar energy company with an operational portfolio of 1.7GW – enough to power more than 400,000 households. With extensive development, engineering and project management experience, Nick has been directly responsible for the implementation of ground-mount and rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) projects from site feasibility studies through to financial close and construction. Nick heads up the Ireland and Northern Ireland development divisions.

Paul O’Donnell, Partner, Greencoat Capital

Speaker Bio

aul has over 15 years of renewables and investment experience, of which the last 10 have been focussed solely on renewables. He joined Greencoat Capital in 2009 and has specialised in managing investments in the wind and solar generation sectors, working across development, operations, technology, and financing. In that time, Paul oversaw Airvolution Energy, a UK based wind developer which has developed and constructed over 60MW of wind assets as well as Lumicity, a UK solar developer which developed over 60MW of solar assets.

Paul has been a Partner of Greencoat Capital since 2016, and has been based in Dublin since 2013. Prior to joining Greencoat Capital, he worked with Libertas Capital, the specialist renewable energy investment bank. At Libertas, Paul advised renewable companies on raising equity and focussed on the AIM market. He started his career with PwC Ireland in Dublin.

Paul sits on the Investment Committee of Greencoat Renewables. He also sits on the board Endeco Technologies (Ireland), a portfolio company of ESBNM.

Paul holds a BBS (Hons) in Finance from Trinity College Dublin.

Peter Kavanagh, Director, Highfield Solar

Speaker Bio

Peter specialises in the pre-construction and grid connection of renewable energy projects. Peter has over 15 years of experience working in the power generation sector in Ireland and was formerly Managing Director of Wind Prospect Ireland who have constructed over 20% of the national installed wind energy capacity.

Fintan Whelan, Director, Carbon Metrics

Speaker Bio

Fintan Whelan has been active in Renewables since he joined the newly formed Airtricity in 2000 as Corporate Finance Manager. In 2008, he co-founded Mainstream Renewable Power, along with ex Airtricity CEO Eddie O'Connor, focusing on development of SolarPV & onshore/offshore wind projects across a number of markets - US, Canada, Chile, South Africa, Ireland, UK and Germany.

As an Independent Investor, Fintan is involved with a number of ventures among which • Emerging Markets Power ltd – Fintan is a co-founder & director of this Greenfield Wind developer, currently developing Utility scale projects in Ghana and Tanzania. This is a Joint Venture with Vestas and is backed by Belltown Power. • Carbon Metrics ltd - Fintan is a co-founder & director of this start-up, which will arrange funding for multi-technology, behind-the-meter sustainable resource solutions for corporates. Fintan is a Non-Executive director of SolarPV specialist developer BNRG Renewables and works with Amarenco Solar on the development of their business.

Mark Turner, Senior Manager , Baringa Partners

Speaker Bio

Caoimhe Giblin, Head of Client Services, ElectroRoute

Speaker Bio

Caoimhe serves as Head of Client Services at ElectroRoute Market Access and is responsible for managing the Client Services division of ElectroRoute, offering outsourced energy trading services to independent generators and retail businesses.

Caoimhe served as Head of Corporate Finance at SSE Renewables and worked for SSE/Airtricity for 8 years. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Masters in Accounting from Dublin City University.

Alison Finch, Chief Marketing Officer, Huawei Solar Europe

Speaker Bio

Alison Finch studied Chemistry at Reading University, before beginning her corporate career as a graduate trainee for Mars, the privately-owned American Corporation. Over the next decade, her roles there varied from Production Manager, in the largest canning factory in Europe, to Sales, Marketing and Logistics.

In 2000, Alison relocated to Melbourne, Australia, as Head of Integration. for a large Dairy Co-operative and furthered her expertise in Human Resources & Value Chain Management. In 2010, Alison set up her own Solar Installation business in Cardiff, UK and, as such, gained first-hand experience of the solar industry, before joining Huawei in March 2014 to establish Huawei Solar in the UK. Two years on, Huawei succeeded in grabbing the largest share of UK ground-mount solar inverter market. Alison has now taken on the challenging role of Chief Marketing Officer, Huawei Solar Europe, as well as being a Board Director at Solar Power Europe.

Abstract

Subsidy-free Solar with Strings Attached: How close are we to deploying significant quantities of solar that is subsidy-free? Is that like asking, ‘How long is a piece of string?’ or is string inverter technology helping us to all see light at the end of the tunnel? CMO of Huawei FusionSolar, Alison Finch, will discuss how digitalised, smart technologies that facilitate increased control and more effective management of PV assets are the way forward, and why the solar industry will continue to pleasantly surprise us.

Vanessa Miler- Fels, Renewable Energy Strategist, Microsoft

Speaker Bio

Presentation Abstract

Ross Moore, Partner, A&L Goodbody

Speaker Bio

Ross Moore is a Partner in the Banking and Financial Services Department and a member of the Projects & Construction and Energy & Natural Resources Groups. He specialises in limited/non-recourse style project finance transactions in particular in the energy sector and in public private partnerships in the transport, roads and accommodation sectors. Ross also specialises in regulatory advice in respect of the electricity, gas and renewable energy markets on an all-island basis, as well as in all aspects of power generation construction, financing and operation and energy sector acquisitions.

Significant recent deals include advising:

EirGrid plc on its acquisition of SONI Ltd.

Scottish and Southern Energy in relation to the approx. €1.8bn acquisition of Airtricity Holdings.

The lenders to the Tynagh and Synergen Power Plants of the adaptation of certain project documents consequential upon the introduction of the Single Electricity Market. The syndicate of lenders in relation to the refinancing of a portfolio of windfarms.

The funders in respect of the Thornton Hall Prison PPP Project.

Sponsors and lenders in relation to a number of PPP roads projects, including the Borrower/Issuer in respect of the Limerick Tunnel PPP Road Project, the first infrastructural project in Ireland to be financed using capital markets.

Lenders, third party equity investors, promoters and contractors in over 14 windfarm projects in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The lenders to the first commercial biodiesel plant in Ireland.

The operator in respect of the DBFO Roads Package 1 in Northern Ireland.

In respect of the development of CHP facilities in Northern Ireland.

Bidders in respect of the Criminal Courts Services PPP Project and National Conference Centre PPP Project.

Paul Travers, Head of Energy, Climate Change, AIB

Speaker Bio

Paul is the new Head of Energy, Climate Change and Infrastructure at AIB and leads a newly created team for scale lending to energy, renewables and infrastructure projects. Paul was previously the Head of Macquarie Capital Ireland and has ca. 15 years experience advising and investing in these sectors and has worked with ESB, Bord Gais, NewEra, NTR, Viridian, the Irish Infrastructure Fund, Amarenco and Mainstream Renewable Power on various transactions and investments. Paul was a Director on numerous Macquarie investment companies including the Board of Amarenco Solar Ireland.

Peter Duff, Director, Power Capital

Speaker Bio

Peter Duff is CEO and co-founder of Power Capital Renewable Energy which he set up in 2010. The company acquires, constructs and asset manages solar parks and has developed both rooftop and ground mounted utility scale pv systems in Germany. It has capabilities across the entire value chain with the ability to manage all phases of a solar development. Currently Power Capital Renewable Energy has a development pipeline of solar projects in Ireland totalling more than 160MW. Peter oversees the team responsible for the development and delivery of this pipeline. This team includes engineers, quantity surveyors and planning consultants. Peter is also the CEO of two utility scale photovoltaic plant in Germany. He is a founder member and current committee member of ISEA. Prior to setting up PCRE, Peter was an Investment professional at NCB with over 20 years’ experience across a range of asset classes at senior management level.

Mark Varian, Partner, Eversheds Sutherland

Speaker Bio

Mark is Partner and Head of the Projects and Construction Group, specialising in construction and energy law. Mark has acted for State bodies, Government departments, educational institutions, developers, employers, banks and contractors. He has extensive knowledge in tendering procedures, appointment of consultants, services contracts and building and engineering contracts. Mark has been recommended in Chambers Global in construction for a number of years.

Anthony Doherty, Finance Director, NTR

Speaker Bio

Anthony is Group Corporate Finance Director at NTR plc which acquires, constructs and manages sustainable infrastructure assets. Through its associated companies, NTR has constructed and operated 1.75GW of wind projects and developed 0.6GW of solar projects to date. NTR closed an investment fund of €250 million in late 2015 and in February 2017 completed its eleventh acquisition of onshore wind assets in the United Kingdom and Ireland, bringing total MWs under management to just under 200MW (195MW). The Fund’s expected total equity and project finance capital requirement amounts to approximately €670 million. NTR is currently putting together plans for its second sustainable infrastructure fund, which it expects to launch in 2017. Solar PV investment opportunities will be considered by this fund. Anthony has successfully led the development and financing of a number of sustainable infrastructure projects across Europe in a variety of renewable energy technologies. Anthony will discuss an investor’s perspective on project requirements and risk mitigation and will also touch on opportunities with regards to the company’s investment fund.

Austin Coughlan, Senior Investment Manager, Ireland Strategic Investment Fund

Speaker Bio

Austin Coughlan is a Senior Investment Manager with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. Austin’s primary investment focus within the fund is in the sectors of energy, healthcare and education across a spectrum of equity and debt investment structures. Austin formerly held positions in Investment Banking with Investec (FTSE 250 Specialist Bank) in Dublin & London, Project & Leverage Finance with Bank of Ireland (Irish Pillar Bank) in Dublin and Strategy Consulting with Accenture in London & New York. He holds a MSc in Finance from University College Dublin, MA and BA in Economics, from Trinity College Dublin and is a Fellow of the global accountancy body ACCA.

Keith Mangan, Senior Portfolio Manager, BlackRock

Speaker Bio

Howard Johns, Managing Director, ENcome Energy Performance

Speaker Bio

Howard Johns works for a community-owned renewable energy revolution. He has founded and led an award winning solar business, a pioneering community-owned energy company and written a guide book to help others to do the same. He has campaigned on energy and climate issues from in treehouses and in parliament – and everywhere in between.

Author of Energy Revolution – Your guide to repowering the energy system, Howard is an energy engineer, entrepreneur, business leader and activist. Following his degree in energy technology and environment, he was a protested against, among other things, the digging of an open cast coal mine, and was evicted from a tree in the process.

Moving on from saying no to the problems, Howard set about building solutions, eventually founding a national solar energy company, and a locally owned renewable energy co-operative – the first one in the UK to build a solar energy project with a community share offer. At the same time he chaired the trade body representing the UK solar industry, finding himself campaigning on energy policy again in the process.

Howard is convinced we have all the technology and money we need to implement the right climate and energy solutions. Now it is time for lots of people to get involved in making it happen. He still works with his local community energy company Ovesco – to scale this project and increase its impact. He is also managing director of Encome Energy Performance UK a business that manages hundreds of megawatts of solar power stations around the UK, as well as chairman of the positive climate change charity 10:10.

Deirdre Nagle, Senior Planning Lawyer, Mason Hayes & Curran

Speaker Bio

Deirdre is a Senior Planning Lawyer in Mason Hayes & Curran. Deirdre has acted in numerous High Court, Commercial Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court matters as well as before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Deirdre regularly acts in oral hearings before An Bord Pleanála. Deirdre advises in relation to the preparation of applications for consents including advising from the outset of a project, attendance at pre-application meetings with An Bord Pleanála, advising on Environmental Impact Assessment and Appropriate Assessment including the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements and Natura Impact Statements

Brian Keville, Environmental Director, McCarthy Keville O'Sullivan

Speaker Bio

Brian is the Environmental Director of McCarthy Keville O'Sullivan (MKO), a 45-person, Galway-based planning and environmental consultancy with renewable energy as a main specialism. Brian is an environmental scientist by profession, having graduated from NUI Galway, and has over 17 years' experience in professional consultancy, particularly in large-scale energy infrastructure projects. Having worked on over 1GW of on-shore wind projects and associated transmission infrastructure over the last decade, this extensive renewables experience has been shared across the solar energy projects the company has been bringing through the Irish planning process over the last three years.

Olivia Roche, Asset Manager, Amarenco Solar

Speaker Bio

Olivia started her career in physics and, after a DPhil at Oxford, spent five years in academic publishing at the Institute of Physics Publishing in Bristol with responsibility for one of their flagship journals. She made a move into the renewable energy sector by completing a masters in Renewable Energy Systems Technology at Loughborough University in 2015. Olivia returned to Ireland in 2016 and began working for Amarenco Solar as Technical Development Manager. Olivia is now Asset Manager for Infram Energy Ltd (Amarenco’s joint venture with Infracapital) and has responsibility for overseeing the performance of Amarenco’s solar assets in France.  

Presentation Abstract

A key element to the proposed RESS scheme is community participation in renewable energy projects. For developer-led projects it has been suggested that communities should be given the opportunity to invest in a share of the project. In this presentation the RESS scheme proposals will be reviewed and Amarenco’s experience with community-funding in France will be described. We will then propose our vision for how developer-led community projects could be managed in an Irish context. 

Paul Phare, Development Manager, Energy4All

Speaker Bio

Paul Phare serves as the Regional Development Manager for Energy4All Ltd and also sits on the Board of several community energy projects in the UK.

Paul joined the renewable sector in 2003 with Vesta Celtic, and since then has worked with many communities in Scotland across a range of technologies and at all scales.

Paul has a Degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Bristol University.

Michael MacDonagh , Chief Archaeologist , National Monuments Service

Speaker Bio

Michael MacDonagh took up the post of Chief Archaeologist in the National Monuments Service within the Heritage Division of Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in July 2017. Mr MacDonagh joined National Monuments Service from Transport Infrastructure Ireland where he was Senior Archaeologist, and having spent the last four years on secondment with Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the North South Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat. A graduate of University College Dublin, Mr MacDonagh joined Transport Infrastructure Ireland in 2001 (then National Roads Authority), following an early career in commercial and public sector archaeological management across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Berlin-Brandenburg. He was Chair of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland, the professional body representing archaeologists working in Ireland, from 2015-2017.

The National Monuments Service has responsibility for the formulation and implementation of policy relating to the protection of Ireland's archaeological heritage and is committed to conserving and managing Ireland’s unique built heritage for the benefit of present and future generations, as a support to economic renewal and sustainable employment, and in compliance with legal obligations. It is based mainly in the Custom House in Dublin. The National Monuments Service advises the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on legislative and policy issues relating to the archaeological heritage and has responsibility for:

• The archaeological management of the National Monuments in State care (the conservation and provision of visitor services at these monuments is the responsibility of the Office of Public Works).

• The maintenance of the statutory Record of Monuments and Places under section 12 of the National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994.

• The maintenance of a national baseline database of known archaeological sites and monuments (the Sites and Monuments Record) which is available on the Monument Map Viewer.

• The implementation of legislation in relation to the protection of sites and monuments (including historic wrecks that are over 100 years old).

• The regulation of archaeological excavations, the use of detection devices for archaeological purposes and diving on historic wrecks and other underwater archaeological sites.

• The provision of advice to planning and other consent authorities on development proposals which might have an impact on archaeology.

• The provision of archaeological advice to a wide range of groups and individuals.

Paul Neary, Director, Neo Environmental

Speaker Bio

Paul is one of the owners and directors of Neo Environmental and has a diverse environmental background with heritage, archaeology and environmental science qualifications. Neo environmental have worked on projects for clients including Lightsource, Gaelectric, Lark Energy, Vogt, Low Carbon and Highfield Energy, to name a few. Paul has overseen the environmental and technical work for standalone solar farms, but also for the co-location of solar farms and wind farms in the UK. In his current capacity, Paul has developed a multi-disciplinary team working on a range of development types for clients ranging from developers, planning consultants, engineers, architects, educational institutions and public bodies. Neo environmental have offices in Belfast, Naas (Co. Kildare), Glasgow and Warwickshire. Paul has acted as a licensed archaeological director for the development of solar farms in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland and has led on EIA and standard assessments for solar farms across the UK and Ireland for over 5 years.

Tina Raleigh, Director, EPG Environmental Planning Group

Speaker Bio

Tina Raleigh holds a degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the National University of Ireland, Cork (1996) and is a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Ireland. Tina has over 20 years’ experience in the delivery of key infrastructure projects. Her key area of expertise is the project management and delivery of large scale, multi-disciplinary projects in the energy and infrastructure sectors including renewable energy, gas pipeline and roads projects. She has extensive experience in the statutory consent processes, including planning applications, appeals, Environmental Impact Statement, strategic infrastructure applications, expert witness and oral hearing experience.

Peter Kavanagh, Director, Highfield Solar

Speaker Bio

Peter specialises in the pre-construction and grid connection of renewable energy projects. Peter has over 15 years of experience working in the power generation sector in Ireland and was formerly Managing Director of Wind Prospect Ireland who have constructed over 20% of the national installed wind energy capacity.

Nick Fullerton, Connections & Charging Manager EirGrid and Director SONI , EirGrid

Speaker Bio

Nick Fullerton is currently responsible for the management of all generation and demand connection applications across the EirGrid Group and is a member of the SONI Board. He has over 30 years’ experience in the Utilities industry and has held a range of senior management positions in NIE and SONI. This included responsibility for the commercial function, interconnection, regulation and Information Technology. Nick holds a BSc in technology from Queen’s University Belfast and an MSc in Corporate Leadership from Napier University in Edinburgh.

Abstact: The energy industry in Ireland is undergoing significant changes at present which fundamentally changes how we see the development and future operation of Ireland’s Transmission System. In particular, there have been radical changes in the energy mix with the addition of over 3,000MW of new wind capacity. New technologies including solar generation and storage are now expected to also play an important part in shaping the future. These big shifts pose many challenges and opportunities for a transmission system operator. The theme of this presentation will be to identify some of those key challenges, opportunities to meet those challenges and where solar fits into tomorrow’s energy mix.

Clare Duffy, Asset Investment Manager, ESB Networks

Speaker Bio

Clare Duffy is Asset Investment Manager for ESB Networks and is a chartered engineer with almost 20 years experience working in the power industry. ESB Networks are the licensed operators of the electricity distribution system in the Republic of Ireland and are responsible for building, operating, maintaining and developing the electricity network and serving all electricity customers across the country.

Clare is responsible for planning asset investments to maintain safety and security of supply on the national electricity distribution network. This includes plans for the connection of medium/large customers to the distribution network and the connection of renewable generation to the distribution network. With the introduction of EU renewable energy targets for 2020, ESB Networks stepped up to the challenge of the unprecedented level of connection applications for renewable energy projects by setting up a dedicated team of specialists in its Renewable Planning team.

ESB Networks process all renewable energy connection applications according to strict rules governed by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) from initial contact by the customer right through to energisation.

Michael Moore, Project Manager , Elgin Energy

Speaker Bio

Michael joined Elgin Energy in 2015 to lead the company's development of solar farms in the Irish market. Michael holds a BA, BAI in Engineering from Trinity College Dublin. With over 14 years' experience in electrical & development related industries, Michael is responsible for the delivery of 250MW of solar in Ireland over the coming years. Prior to joining Elgin Energy, Michael worked as a Chartered Engineer in EirGrid implementing the delivery of Gate 3 wind connections and large scale 400kV infrastructure projects.

Rory Mullan, Director, MullanGrid Consulting

Speaker Bio

Rory Mullan is a senior consultant and director of MullanGrid Consulting.

A qualified Electrical Engineer, Rory has worked in the Irish Electricity Industry for over 15 years in various commercial and technical roles in utility and consultancy sectors. Rory is also a member of IWEA, NIRIG & ISEA Grid Committees.

Donal Smith, Grid Specialist, Galetech Energy Services (GES)

Speaker Bio

Donal holds a masters degree in power systems engineering from Helsinki University of Technology. He brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the GES team having worked as grid connection s manager on over 500MW of development and construction projects over the past 12 years with SWS, Bord Gais and Brookfield. Donal is heavily involved in policy development and sits on the IWEA grid committee.

Felicity Jones, Partner , Everoze Partners Ltd

Speaker Bio

Felicity (Fliss) is a strategy consultant with a global perspective, having lived and worked in the UK, Singapore, Norway and the Netherlands. She specialises in new energy technologies and markets — with a particular focus on energy storage.

Abstract The DS3 process is opening up exciting new opportunities for battery projects – particularly in the area of Firm Frequency Response (FFR) and Operating Reserve services. Eigrid/SONI have recently published detail on scalar design and procurement that finally enables developers to quantify the revenue opportunity. In this presentation, Everoze draws on lessons learned from the GB battery bonanza, and shares highlights from its recent report Batteries: Beyond the Spin – the dawning era of Digital Inertia in the Island of Ireland. We summarise by teasing out the implications for solar developers eying up the DS3 opportunity.

Presentation Abstract

The DS3 process is opening up exciting new opportunities for battery projects – particularly in the area of Firm Frequency Response (FFR) and Operating Reserve services. Eigrid/SONI have recently published detail on scalar design and procurement that finally enables developers to quantify the revenue opportunity. In this presentation, Everoze draws on lessons learned from the GB battery bonanza, and shares highlights from its recent report Batteries: Beyond the Spin – the dawning era of Digital Inertia in the Island of Ireland. We summarise by teasing out the implications for solar developers eying up the DS3 opportunity.

Brian Denvir, Clean Energy Specialist, SEAI

Speaker Bio

Brian Denvir is a clean energy specialist with the Low Carbon Technologies team at SEAI.

Brian leads SEAI’s programme of work on solar PV having previously worked for international energy consultancy E4tech covering innovation in solar PV technology. He also supports SEAI’s energy modelling work to inform the development of energy policy and insights in Ireland.

Pat Smith, Director, BHC Distributors

Speaker Bio

Pat is MD of Local Power Ltd a business specialising in renewable energy generation for consumption on site and within communities. Following extensive research on the technology providers Pat partnered with Pearse Mc Henry in BHC Distributors to help develop the solar and battery storage opportunities in the emerging Irish market.

In his previous roles with The Irish Farmers Association Pat was one of the first movers to buy renewable energy at a discounted rate for farmers when the electricity market was first deregulated. As former GS and CEO of the IFA he has extensive knowledge of Agri business, farming and community engagement and has established many Farmer related businesses over the years including IFA Telecom and Agri- Aware.

Pat has served on many and diverse boards and has successfully represented Irish Farmers at the highest political and business level at home and abroad. Pat is B. Ag. Sc and holds a diploma in Directorship with the IOD and a diploma in Accounting and Finance with the ACCA. 

Robert Goss, Director, Solar Electric

Speaker Bio

Robert Goss is Director of Solar Electric Ireland, a PV developer in Ireland focussed on deploying rooftop solar for commercial and industrial end users, helping them lower their electricity bills, improve their sustainability credentials and future proof against energy price rises. Previously Robert was Managing Director of Conergy UK building the company from zero to 200 MW of installed capacity in 5 years. Robert has led some of the first rooftop installations in Ireland and joins this session to run through his experiences in this market sector and details of requirements for it to take off.

Gary Connolly, Business Development, Activ8 Solar Energies

Speaker Bio

Activ8 Solar Energies was established in 2007 having been previously known as Ciaran Marron Electrical from 2004. By serving the solar industry for 15 years, the directors of Activ8 Solar Energies have gained unrivalled knowledge and experience through the installation of over 7,000 systems supplied and installed across Ireland and the UK.

Abstract

The challenges to the domestic solar market with no incentive are many, ranging from financial viability to community acceptance right down to regulatory quality. Although solar PV is becoming more affordable, the system itself is very much seen as an “Early adopters” technology. Leaving its desirability within the Irish market isolated to the high earners and the technologically curious. A long way away from the mass market and in turn mass adoption. With such a small target market for solar PV systems at present, this leads us to our next challenge, which is the lack of understanding by the mass market of actual production capability within an Irish climate. Unfamiliar with the facts on generation figures, along with being equal to that of many of our European neighbours, it is only the early enlightened and well earning few that see the benefits from Solar PV. This also leads to less common sightings of the technology, and although the saying goes “What is seldom is wonderful” this does not translate kindly to our technology which we are looking to be widely accepted by the nation on a visual level.”

Paddy Phelan, Manager, Carlow Kilkenny Energy Agency

Speaker Bio

Carlow Kilkenny Energy Agency (CKEA) Manager, Paddy Phelan, is a consulting engineer who leads a growing, multi-disciplinary team charged with supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy across the public and private sector in Carlow, Kilkenny and now Wexford and helping them become near zero energy counties. The Mission of the CKEA is to lead and support these counties to reduce their CO2 emissions by stimulating and contributing to the implementation of best practise in the field of sustainable energy. Paddy is an UCD Engineering Graduate with 17 years engineering experience in project and contract management in construction industry and subsequently Energy Sector since 2007. Appointed as Manager of the Carlow Kilkenny Energy Agency in 2012. Paddy has significant experience across all areas of energy in energy efficiency, energy management, land based renewable technologies and extensive experience in EU projects. Supporting many innovative energy supply chain, project development and innovative energy finance projects to delivery in residential, community, SME and all scale renewable generation etc. Paddy is Vice President of the IRBEA, Chairman of the AIEA, an Executive member of Meitheal na Gaoithe and a former member of the State Board of SEAI and winner of several local, regional and national awards. Paddy is currently a part-time lecturer in Waterford Institute of Technology’s built environment section, specialising in Energy Recovery and Utilisation.

Abstract: CKEA has designed, specified, procured and project managed more than 2 MW of rooftop solar installations, ranging from 20kW to 500kW across private and public SME buildings since 2015. The broad principle of demand-led auto generation is the only viable current mechanism to implement Solar PV in the current market with supports from the SEAI annual grant programmes. Paddy’s presentation, Rooftops as a Solution to Demand Side Management will explore not just the business demand led approach to design and specification but also the approach which will become necessary around the Community led demand. Community has been central to all recent DCCAE policy documents and consultations and requires all developers to understand how community demand will be integrated into the future Renewable Electricity Support Scheme towards 2030. In other words, some potential options exist for Developer led projects to integrate the RESS consultation papers proposed €2/MWh support to community.

Barry Sherry, Business Development, Kingspan Energy

Speaker Bio

Barry Sherry is a Chartered Electrical Engineer with over 12years experience in the Power and Energy sectors. Barry has worked on both conventional and renewable energy projects from planning to full O&M has enabled me to understand the technologies each segment has to offer to the market.

Specialties include:

• Project Management
• Business and Change Management
• Asset Management
• Electrical Engineering