Project Girona
The project has installed batteries and solar panels in 62 properties in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, including households and community centres.
Lead Organisation
Girona Energy Limited
URL
Location
Coleraine, Northern Ireland
About the project
The project reduces bills for customers through maximising the use of energy from solar panels in the property, storing excess energy in the batteries, trading in the wholesale electricity energy market, and providing services to the local distribution network operator (DNO).
What did the project achieve?
- 62 properties fitted with typically 3.3 kWp of solar photovoltaic (PV) and 3.68kW / 11kWh batteries.
- Generated 172MWh of renewable electricity from solar panels and exported 31MWh to the network.
- Saved social housing tenants £27,000 on their energy bills over 18 months, equivalent to more than 50% in some cases in an area with a 30% prevalence of fuel poverty.
- Tenants on pre-paid meters started seeing cost savings from day one.
- In 2022 Girona won a flexibility contract with NIE, the local DNO, in an open tender.
Key lessons learnt
- Project resilience and flexibility are critical. Girona would not have been delivered without the ability to pivot to address unexpected challenges.
- Identifying stakeholders’ own challenges and supporting them in solving these has enabled the project to gain respect and goodwill from the DNO and housing associations and has been a key aspect of a successful trial.
Next steps
- The project’s PARIS platform has been commercialised through a ‘white label’ arrangement with an electricity retailer and underpins a smart local energy system design for a major agricultural food producer, both in the Republic of Ireland.
- Expand the Girona model to a second project in Belfast Harbour Estate.
- Develop marketing plan for rollout across Republic of Ireland.