Limerick has been awarded a substantial grant in the biggest EU Research and Innovation Funding programme, Horizon 2020, for a smart cities and communities project worth €6.5m to the city, of which MPower is a substantial part.
The focus in Limerick will be on the development of a new “community grid” and the use of smart meters, innovation in new energy sources (including hydrokinetic energy) and storage, digital tools and citizen participation to create what is called a ‘Positive Energy District’ in Limerick city centre, starting with the Gardens International building and ENGINE training and workspace provided by Innovate Limerick. A Positive Energy District is one that contributes more energy than it consumes.
Limerick’s demonstration project will be centred in the Georgian Innovation district in the city centre (Georgian/Newtown Pery areas). The project will be led by Limerick City and County Council and Trondheim Kommune (Norway) and hosted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The Irish partners include the Limerick Clare Energy Agency, Innovate Limerick, University of Limerick, IES R&D, Smart MPower, ESB Innovation and ESB Networks, Space Engagers, GKinetic Energy Ltd, Future Analytics Consulting.
The Cooperative ENergy Trading System (CENTS) is a collaborative project coordinated by the IERC and will rely on the industry experience from Smart MPower, mSemicon and Community Power, in addition to the research capabilities of UCC, NUIG, and DIT. It is a disruptive technology platform for the electricity sector where consumers and communities will be empowered with the necessary infrastructure to generate their own electricity, earn from the electricity generation, and finally, to be an integral part of decarbonizing their homes and communities for sustainable living.
CENTS is the only project supported under the Energy, Climate Action and Sustainability priority area. It provides a software solution for a blockchain-enabled cooperative peer-to-peer energy trading platform and proposes necessary hardware requirements and market and regulatory strategies.
The TRIDENT consortium, led by University of Limerick academic Dr Tadhg Kennedy, has been successful in securing €3.65 million in funding from the Irish Government’s Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund to develop a sustainable sodium-ion smart battery system. The TRIDENT battery will be a plug-and-play solution that can be installed in a household utility room. The goal is to revolutionise the way households manage their energy by empowering individuals / citizens to take an active role in the energy market.
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