9 point plan - louthcoco.ie · louth economic forum 9 point plan louth economic forum was...

L o u t h E c o n o m i c F o r u m

9 p o i n t p l a n

sustainable

energyaction plan

Lou

th the County of ChoiCe to do busin

ess

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introduction

Louth county DEvELopmEnt BoarD chaired by Cllr. anthony donohoe was

established in 2000 for the integration of local Government and local development.

the County development board is central to the overall integration process at

county level with a focus on social, economic, cultural and community development.

the board brings together various strands involved in local Government, local

development, the state agencies at local level and the social Partners which includes

the community and voluntary sector.

The broad functions of the Board are to:

• implement a comprehensive County

strategy on social, economic and

Cultural development

• identify gaps and duplication in local

service delivery

• nurture constructive co-operation

and active participation by all

members of the board based on a

partnership approach

Louth County Development Board

l o u t h e C o n o m i C f o r u m 9 p o i n t p l a n

Louth Economic Forum was

established in 2009 under the

auspices of the County development

board chaired by Padraic White,

former managing director of the

industrial development authority

[ida ireland] and currently small and

medium business entrepreneur.

overseas companies secured for

ireland during mr White’s tenure with

ida include microsoft, ibm software

and intel while he was also central

to the establishment and marketing

of the international financial services

Centre (ifsC) in dublin.

the forum comprises of the business

sector of county louth, the local

authority management and all of

the state agencies that interact with

those generating economic activity in

the county and is a one stop shop for

potential investors. a study entitled

louth County economic development

strategy (2009 - 2015), commissioned

by the louth local authorities from

indecon international economic

Consultants, provides a blueprint for

the louth economic forum and its

recommendations have shaped the

work of the forum.

the louth economic forum has devised

an overall 9 point plan identifying 9

specific areas to be addressed within its

work programme over the next 3 years.

a task group has been established for

each of the areas, the second one being

sustainable energy which is the subject

of this document.

the purpose of the sustainable energy

task group and this document is to

outline louth’s joined up approach to

delivering the Green economy in louth.

Padraic White

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foreign direct investment

sustainable energy

indigenous industry

tourism and heritage

education and training

agricultural and fisheries

broadband

making louth the best County to do business

drogheda dundalk newry economic Corridor

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the established task Groups are

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‘a key pillar of economic policy will be to implement a green new Deal to move

away from fossil-fuel based energy production through investment in renewable

energy and increased energy efficiency to reduce demand, wastage and costs.’

The Renewed programme for Government published in October 2009

referencing the importance of the Green Economy.


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Members of the louth economic Forum

Padraic WhiteChairman

Conn murrayCounty Manager Louth Local Authorities

Patricia rooneyDrogheda & District Chamber

Graham o’rourkeDrogheda & District Chamber

Paddy maloneDundalk Chamber of Commerce

bill toshDundalk Chamber of Commerce

John KieranArdee Business Community

ronan dennedyLouth County Enterprise Board

denis CumminsDundalk Institute of Technology

michael CurranLouth County Council

michael mcCabe Louth County Council

edel o’mahonyLouth County Council

Conor fahyEnterprise Ireland

Pat dohertyIDA Ireland

ray KellyFÁS

declan meallySustainable Energy Ireland

Kevin KidneyFailte Ireland

niall o’lamhnaTeagasc

ray Carroll Tourism & Heritage Task Group

ann Cleary, DkIT and brendan dunlevy, FÁS also represent their agencies at various meetings of the louth economic forum.

the Process the louth economic forum proposal for a Sustainable energy task Group was

conveyed to the dundalk 2020 steering Group. the steering Group was established

in 2006, and works with seai to roll out their sustainable energy communities

program in dundalk as part of the international ConCerto Consortium Project

called holistiC. dundalk is the first sustainable community in ireland. the

dundalk 2020 steering Group – Chaired by michael Curan, director of economic

development and future Planning, louth County Council agreed that it would act

in this task group role. the development of the sustainable energy action Plan was

facilitated by declan meally, of the sustainable energy authority ireland (seai).

in preparing this action plan, the Forum

consulted with all the relevant

stakeholders who kindly made

themselves available to the Forum

and provided invaluable insights and

support. in particular the Forum would

like to thank professor J owen lewis,

the ceo of Seai, and other relevant

stakeholders, who highlighted the

importance of developing the Smart

green economy in ireland.

l o u t h e C o n o m i C f o r u m

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the Vision

louth economic forum’s vision for

sustainable energy is to position

louth as ireland’s first Smart

Green county leading the way to a

sustainable energy future.

the objective of this action plan

is to help sustain, support and

create jobs through developing the

concept of louth as a leader in the

delivery of the Green economy.

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the national Challenge

‘in ireland in 20 years time if a job is not green it will not exist ‘

prof J owen lewis CEO of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

the transformation that ireland and the

rest of the world face in transitioning to a

new low carbon society in the coming years

cannot be underestimated. the Government

has identified in the renewed Programme

for Government (oct 2009) that there are

significant economic benefits available to

those countries that take a lead in this Green

economy area.

a number of Government supported reports have been published in support of

the renewed Programme for Government and to assist in demonstrating delivery

options for the development of the Green economy in ireland. the following two

reports are of particular relevance;

• DevelopingtheGreenEconomy | report by the high level action Group on

Greenenterprise - December 2009

• InnovationIreland | report of the innovation taskforce - March 2010


the local opportunity

louth economic forum intends

to demonstrate through this

sustainable energy action Plan

that the local economy can provide

a lead in demonstrating the

successful delivery mechanisms

for the Green economy. louth

is a flexible, adaptable and

technically Smart county

and is already starting to deliver not

just as a Green County but more

importantly as a Smart

Green county.

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there are six actions detailed in this

document that can assist in the realisation of

these opportunities.

this action Plan sets out three key

opportunities for County louth:

build on the sustainable energy

best practices developed from

dundalk 2020 and the holistiC

Project assist the transfer of

these to other urban areas in

the County.

assist local businesses to

become more competitive

through the provision of energy

efficiency training and supports.

allow green businesses

use County louth as a

living laboratory to trial, test and

develop their products

and services.

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louth’s Value Proposition

the key to the delivery of the

actions outlined in this document

is to build on the excellent

sustainable energy infrastructure

and collaborations that already exist

within the county.

louth can clearly demonstrate

leadership and excellence in the

area of sustainable energy and

each year the county has been the

location for exploring new areas

that are truly leading edge in the

sustainable energy field.

in 2005, Dkit under the leadership

of the Centre for renewable

energy (Credit) erected the

first commercial scale urban

wind turbine in ireland. this

was completed in a successful

partnership with the community,

stewarded by larry staudt with

no planning objections to the

project. this was also the first in

the world of its scale installed on

a third level campus. dkit have

also developed and manage the

first renewable Energy masters

Degree in ireland and have set

up the first renewable Energy

installers training academy

in the republic of ireland. the

regional development Centre at

dkit has also supported a number

of small start-up sustainable energy

companies. in 2009, Credit with

the support of enterprise ireland

led the installation of the first

large scale energy storage flow

battery which is the only one in

the world installed alongside

a commercially operating

wind turbine. this will

allow dkit assist

the trialling and

testing of new

smart Grid

technologies

of the future.

the local opportunity


Dundalk is ireland’s first designated sustainable energy community in

Seai’s Sustainable energy communities programme, and is referred

to locally as Dundalk 2020. it is leading a larger european initiative

funded by the international concerto consortium called holiStic.

through the ConCerto initiative

dundalk is partnered with

communities of similar size and

they are mödling (austria) and

neuchâtel (switzerland). all three

communities have set ambitious

targets to be achieved, by 2012, for

integration of energy efficiency and

renewable energy in the community.

this partnership also includes cross

border collaboration on sustainable

energy projects with newry. this

is also part of an international

collaboration developing and

demonstrating the model for

community sustainable energy best

practices. this project has involved

all sectors of the community, from

public and private sectors and from

home owners to large multinational

companies. the results to date have

demonstrated that as a direct result

of action by the dundalk sustainable

energy community a reduction

in emissons of 9,000 tonnes of

co2 has been achieved through

energy efficiency projects.

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seai now has a significant presence

in louth at their regional office

which represents an important

locally accessible resource.

in 2009, the louth local authorities,

dkit and dundalk Chamber of

Commerce with the assistance

of seai set up the Low carbon

initiative Limited (Lci) – a special

purpose not-for-profit company

to facilitate research and provide

support for new and existing

green technology companies.

this entity has identified a

benchmark international support

model and have targeted the

specific opportunity for supporting

technologies in the development of

smart Grid and home area networks.

louth and the surrounding area has

a strong track record in supporting

investment in green technology.

Companies as diverse as oriel

Wind farm, abb, and Kingspan all

have significant operations in the

region. large multinationals such

as Xerox, heinz, and diageo, who

have manufacturing bases in louth,

are recognised as best in class in

implementing sustainable energy

management in their processes.

these are the technologies of the future being

trialled by companies in Dundalk today.


local company Glen dimplex –

world leaders in efficient electrical

technologies is a louth based

company that has their research and

development base in dunleer. year

on year this company continues

to grow worldwide and has been

developing and trialling new smarter

appliances and technologies from

their base in louth.

open hydro, based in Greenore,

are one of the first companies

in the world to have developed

and tested large scale electricity

generation tidal devices. they are

now successfully exporting these

commercial devices and leading the

way in ocean energy development

and commercialisation.

the overall population of louth

and its hinterland is set to grow to

almost 190,000 by 2015 – providing

a strong skills set to employers.

the population within a 60-kilometre radius of

Drogheda is 1.7m while the equivalent figure for

Dundalk is over 760,000.

Population within 60km catchment

(1 hour commute)

actions targetedreplicate the dundalk 2020 approach in

drogheda and ardee.

implement a special energy saving initiative for

60 louth companies.

develop leadership and competency in smart

energy technologies.

the proposal of dundalk science & technology

Park as an ida flagship Green business Park.

Propose drogheda as a hub for a Green

international services corridor to include dublin

airport, east Point and the existing international

financial service Centre (ifsC).

Propose dundalk as the prime candidate for the

Governments selection of a ‘Smart town’.

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replicate . . . the dundalk 2020 approach in drogheda and ardee.

for the past three years public and

private stakeholders - both local

and national -have, in partnership

with seai, co-operated under the

sustainable energy Communities

project referred to as dundalk

2020. this project has successfully

collaborated with all sectors of the

community. the results to date have

demonstrated that as a direct result

of dundalk 2020 actions 9,000

tonnes of Co2 has been avoided

through energy efficiency measures

businesses, homes and public

organisations have achieved savings

in their annual energy bills ranging

from 5% to 20%. in 2008 the total

saved under the project equated to

€500,000 costs avoided per annum.

at the invitation of the louth

economic forum, drogheda

Chamber of Commerce and

ardee business Community have

both agreed to champion the

replication of dundalk 2020 in their

communities. they have appointed

local project facilitators to work

with the dundalk 2020 team and

assist the knowledge transfer.

membership of the ardee and

drogheda local steering groups will

be determined by the respective

locations, who in turn will identify,

plan and implement projects in

their towns.

in 2010 in consultation with local

interests, the ardee and drogheda

groups will identify their respective

sustainable energy Zones and any

initial quick win projects for

their locations.

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implement . . .

seai has provided assistance to public

and private business in implementing

structured energy management

programmes through dundalk 2020

and its national programmes. these

programmes focus on identifying

and implementing energy efficiency

measures for companies which

improve their competitiveness.

in general the energy efficiency

measures identified are solutions that

cost little or nothing. at a national

level seai offers a support programme

for small businesses, called the

business supports Programme, and

approximately 600 smes register

for support each year. results from

this programme demonstrate that

businesses who receive supports can

achieve savings of at least 10% from

their annual energy bills.

the louth economic forum and seai,

in co-operation with fÁs, have agreed

to pilot an advanced sme support

scheme and offer it to businesses

operating in louth. the scheme

will use trained energy mentors

(proposed under the fas Graduate

placement scheme and trained and

supported by seai) to provide direct

support to 60 local businesses in

identifying and implementing energy

savings measures. the businesses will

receive regular support for 6 months

and savings will be measured and

monitored by the mentor provided

for the company. the scheme will

be advertised and supported by the

members of the louth economic

forum. applications to participate

in this initiative will be advertised

in June 2010. it is anticipated that

savings on energy spend in the order

of 10% to 15% can be achieved.

if this special initiative is successful

the louth economic forum intend to

offer similar initiatives in the future

and build on the positive

experiences gained.

a special energy saving initiative for 60 louth companies


develop . . . leadership and competency in smart energy technologies.

ireland’s current energy

infrastructure offers complex

technical challenges if ireland is to

transition to a low carbon society.

how will electricity grid systems and

networks cope with large amounts

of wind generation that may not be

available when required? how can

we store excess wind energy and

then provide it when and where it

is required?

how will our homes and offices

make the most efficient use of

energy generated locally? how will

electric transport integrate with the

rest of the electrical system? irish

companies along with multinational

companies based in ireland are

developing the iCt technologies

to provide the answers to these

questions. these are smart energy

technologies sometimes referred to

as low carbon technologies.

the low Carbon initiative (lCi)

research completed in 2009

identified a significant concentration

of low carbon companies located

and operating in louth. in numeric

terms this cluster is the fourth

largest of any county in ireland.

this research also identified an

additional existing group of 30

to 40 companies in ireland who

are developing technologies in

the emerging smart Green iCt

technologies space. from interviews

with a number of these they all

supported the need to trial and

test their products and services

in a ‘living lab’ and the dundalk

sustainable energy zone is a unique

resource for this function.

in parallel seai, enterprise ireland

(ei) and the lCi facilitated the

collaboration of a number of

companies in a specifc industry

led research project to examine

how their products integrate into

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a home network and

examine the impact

on the wider electricity

grid infrastructure.

this is referred to as

home area network

technology. these

companies are ibm,

Glen dimplex, abb,

Coolpower, oriel

Wind, Green aer

have been collaborating since 2009

to develop a memorandum of

understanding and project proposal

to build on Glen dimplex trials

carried out on dkit campus in 2008

and 2009.

this group can form the nucleus

of a potential national cluster

in the area of smart energy

technologies. louth economic

forum in collaboration with seai

and ei and the lCi will promote the

development of 20 to 30 companies

in the smart energy technology

area. the potential prize for this

group is to develop as a recognised

national Centre of Competence in

smart Grid and home area

network for which large scale

funding is available (up to €2m

per annum from ida and ei) for a

successful centre.

The Louth Economic Forum will

• fully endorse and support the

development of the national

cluster of Smart Energy

technologies incorporating the

relevant louth companies and

• actively promote the availability

of the ‘living lab’ facility in

louth.

• promote, in collaboration with

the lCi the development of the

centre of the competence in

smart Grid technologies.


the Proposal . . . of dundalk science & technology Park as an ida flagship

Green business Park.

the recent report from the high-level Group on Green enterprise Developing

the Green Economy in ireland, launched in november 2009, has identified 4

key areas (or 55 actions) that are required for delivery of ireland’s Green economy.

County louth can demonstrate early action in a number of these areas through

facilitation by the louth economic forum.

to assist the delivery of two specific actions they have been addressed by this

sustainable energy action Plan.

these are

• to identify a number of green zones and

• the development of a flagship Green business Park

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both actions can be implemented

in County louth and the louth

economic forum will require strong

collaboration between ida, the

forum and the Government high

level working group. the forum

propose to recommended to the ida

that it should adapt the dundalk

technology Campus as a flagship

Green Zone business Park. the local

area Plan has adopted for dundalk

2020 targets for sustainable energy

(20% renewable generation and

40% efficiency improvements).

the dundalk technology Campus

is a greenfield site and this offers

potential tenants a strategic

opportunity in developing an

energy master plan. this plan is a

unique tool originally designed by

seai for the dundalk 2020 project.

this tool considers energy supply

and demand on a building by

building basis until a community

profile is developed. the energy

master plan will identify potential

for local renewable energy

generation, and it will intergrate

Energy Effiecient Design (EED)

for buildings.

ida is already an active

stakeholder in dundalk 2020

project and a partner in the

international ConCerto

consortium and as such

has demonstrated ongoing

commitment to the project.


Propose drogheda . . . as a hub for a Green international services corridor to include

dublin airport, east Point and the existing ifsC.

as the irelands Green economy develops there will be many international services

and financial service companies emerging to support it. these services could

include – shared services for international Green Companies – renewable energy

management, Carbon Credit trading – Green fund management and financial

administration relating to the Green economy. the Developing the Green

Economy in ireland report suggests a Green ifsC should be located at dublin

airport. drogheda and south louth is less than 30 minutes from the ifsC and east

Point using dublin Port tunnel and the m1 motorway.

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the forum proposes drogheda as a

hub for a Green international services

corridor to include dublin airport, east

Point and the existing ifsC.

the louth economic fourm will

promote the expansion of additional

high specification office facilities

to meet the exacting requirements

of these new Green services

companies.

the forum propose to engage the

Government high level Working

Group to support and assist the

delivery of this action.

the inclusion of louth in the BMW region permits

the development agencies to offer higher financial

incentives to these green services companies

establishing in the Drogheda / South louth area.

Propose dundalk . . . as the prime candidate for the Governments selection of a

‘Smart town’

the revised Programme for Government (october 2009) indicates that a smart

town, with greater than 1000 homes, will be selected to trial smart energy

technology. louth economic forum can demonstrate how a major element

of this is already underway through dundalk 2020. in parallel to the actions

outlined above there is an opportunity for dundalk to establish its credentials as

a smart town and one not confined to the energy element alone.

a smart town is a concept

which requires a collaborative

approach to intergrate low

carbon technology solutions for

energy, transport and buildings

with behavioural changes. it

challenges the existing approach

to optimise resources and capacity

in the community. dundalk has

challenged the existing approach

and the forum will advocate

that dundalk will be the prime

candidate for selection of a

smart town.

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the local and national stakeholders in dundalk and louth have collaborated on

the dundalk 2020 Project and in partnership with seai, have developed a blueprint

on how to develop sustainable energy systems for communities. the dundalk

blueprint requires an additional element and that is the integration of smart iCt

systems to connect all elements of the smart town.

a smart town however is not just

about smart energy it also requires

other smart systems. all of these

systems are in place in dundalk.

• Smart hEaLth: louth age

friendly alliance, netwell Centre

for assisted living, the barrack

street Project – “the Great

northern haven”.

• Smart tranSport: smart mobility, dundalk is a finalist in the national

smarter travel competition

• Smart WatEr: national Centre for freshwater studies is located at dkit,

louth local authorities are benchmark in water management practice.

• Smart WaStE: Winner of the ibal award, entente floreale, V&W recycling,

louth local authorities recognised as bench mark.

the same smart energy

technologies that are being used

and developed under action 3 of

this action Plan can also assist in

joining all of the other systems

above. it is proposed to leverage

the knowledge gained in this space

and roll it out to the other areas

and ultimately develop louth as

the Smart Green county.

many towns and cities in ireland

offer themselves as platforms for

the development of the smart

Green economy, and this is to be

commended. dundalk is unique

as it offers the integrated and

collaborative approach that has

demonstrated quantitative and

qualitative results. through this

action the louth economic forum

will demonstrate why dundalk is the

best location for this designation

and with the collaboration of

the louth economic forum it can

support the development of louth

as the smart Green County.

the louth economic forum

and its participant stakeholder

organisations will actively support

and promote this collaboration and

through this sustainable energy

action Plan will assist in the delivery

of a model for Green economy.

For more information contact

louth local authorities

County hall

dundalk

Co. louth

t +353 42 9324230

F +353 42 9334549

E [email protected]

W www.louthcoco.ie

l o u t h e C o n o m i C f o r u m

designed by element design 042 9327943

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