ISLANDS LINKED BY COMMON
VALENTIA ISLAND AND RATHLIN ARE BOTH MOVING TOWARDS A CARBON NEUTRAL FUTURE...
TWO islands at the opposite ends of the island of Ireland are making ‘energetic strides’ in the face of the COVID-19 crisis to develop a new green hydrogen energy strategy for a new decade.
Rathlin Island off the north-east coast of County Antrim and Valentia Island are both committed to seeing a green hydrogen future that even includes new ‘ green ferries’ operating to both islands.
Both locations are on a ‘ green’ journey: Rathlin has had its energy audit completed, Valentia has its energy master plan, and both have a common denominator, namely hydrogen as being the key to a better future.
It has been said if you focus on sustainability, business can gain, and there are environmental and financial benefits, it’s all interlinked. And in the troubled times of COVID-19, this is more needed in these communities than ever before.
Colum O’Connell, Chairman of the Valentia Energy Group knows that fresh new thinking is needed now:
“Valentia, like the rest of Kerry has a huge dependency on the tourism sector. A recent study by PWC showed that Kerry is the county that has had the biggest impact on tourism due to the COVID crisis. This is one of the reasons we are looking to develop a hydrogen-based economy so that we can create employment opportunities in Valentia that enable us to diversify away from tourism type employment,” he said.
Michael Cecil, Rathlin Development and Community Association (RDCA) Chairman, reckons the island is braced for the COVID challenge:
“All small and medium islands suffer from energy poverty as, traditionally, most have no means of producing energy or fuel, so this leads to a reliance on transporting everything using very inefficient methods. During periods of bad weather, ferry downtime or even the current COVID-19 lockdown, transportation becomes even more difficult
– all leading to insecurity of supply.
“COVID-19 has shown the public quite clearly how we are damaging our planet – since lockdown and with the reduction in transport and industry, there has been a marked improvement in air quality, there is anecdotal evidence that nature has bounced back somewhat. We need to ensure we don’t revert back to how things were pre- COVID. That will involve new thinking around travel and energy.”
Both islands are in tune with each other in what they want next. There has been a desire to move Rathlin Island towards carbon neutrality and the ‘Rathlin As A Carbon Neutral Island’ document produced in September 2019 was a step in gathering thoughts and momentum.
That same month the DFI facilitated a meeting on Rathlin between representatives from Rathlin Development and Community Association, Belfast Metropolitan College, Invest NI, NUIG, and Energia. This meeting focused around hydrogen as a fuel of the future. While consent has been granted for a community turbine, the goal is to make a clean energy transition to zero carbon through the use of Green H2.
In the coming years the community has aspirations to explore options around retrofitting the ‘Rathlin Express’ passenger ferry with hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen storage tanks and electric drives. There is a need to secure a hydrogen supplier to meet the potential demand from the ferry. A pilot of hydrogen-powered vehicles on Rathlin and a new identity for the East Lighthouse on the island are all envisaged. A citizen engagement event in May 2019 and a East Lighthouse Insight Report in August 2019 demonstrated that there is support for research and development on the site into what renewable energy offers. Michael and the RDCA are very open to the envisaged ‘green’ future with Michael saying: “Our roadmap outlines our ambitions around H2 and this includes a plant producing green H2 in the short to medium term. Yes, our desire is to develop green ferries coupled with an island green transport all linked back to wind energy, and an associated H2 plant can become a tourist and education attraction in its own right.
“The brief for the lighthouse development is quite clear in that the entire venture must aim for carbon neutrality in its build and operation. We hope that pilot projects and medium-scale research can take place onsite to be rolled out to the wider community.”
Decarbonisation is on the agenda in Valentia too. In January 2020 the Valentia Energy Co- Operative was formally registered. A reduced carbon footprint ties into a bigger story about climate change. This is an issue that is being discussed on Valentia. There are wider questions around how the co-operative make a feasibility study and the GenComm projects Decision Support Tool (DST) both work to allow these plans to come to fruition. Colum O’Connell explains the direction the group proposes, saying:
“The people of Valentia recognise the global challenge around carbon reduction. They also recognise the opportunities that may become available should we get behind a carbon reduction-program that cannot only reduce carbon but enable energy independence and create high value employment opportunities. The feasibility study and decision support tools empower the community members to understand the analysis and options and make decisions that make a real impact on their future.
“Decarbonisation can take shape in many ways on Valentia. The initial focus is to decarbonise the heating systems on the island. Our energy master plan identified that, in our residential heating systems, 40 per cent consumed oil or gas, while 20 per cent consumes carbon-intensive turf or coal. Hydrogen can provide an achievable transition path for decarbonising this area. We also have a plastics factory which uses significant volumes of gas as part of its manufacturing process, and hydrogen offers a real alternative here also.
“The ferry is a key service to the community of Valentia. Our ferry is due for replacement, and a hydrogen fuel vessel would complement our decarbonisation strategy. We have seen funding models for such vessels in Orkney and Norway, and we see no reason why this model cannot be repeated in Valentia.”
Both Rathlin and Valentia are areas of natural beauty, but the communities want to embrace the clean energy option. The lighthouse on Rathlin was built into the cliff face between 1912 and 1917, and the light was first exhibited in 1919. You are just 11 miles in distance from the Mull of Kintyre
IF YOU FOCUS ON SUSTAINABILITY, BUSINESS CAN GAIN AND THERE ARE ENVIRONMENTAL AND FINANCIAL BENEFITS... THE INTRODUCTION OF A SUSTAINABLY SOURCED FUEL CAN ONLY BE AN ATTRACTIVE OFFERING TO COMMERCIAL ORGANISATIONS.