ESB to announce pilot scheme ‘ambassadors’

THE formal announcement of the names of the families and businesses that have been selected to from a key part of the Dingle ESB Networks Project will be made next Monday.

The ESB project, which is run in conjunction with the Dingle Hub, will see ESB Networks deploy a range of sustainable technologies on the network and in homes across West Kerry over the next three years and will be a testbed for a model of a future ESB network.

Following a three-month campaign, ESB Networks have selected five homes and businesses to take part in the project. In return the ‘ambassadors’, as the families are called, will act as information sources for the community and the ESB. They will provide information on how the technology works from a user point of view through media channels and directly to the community over the duration of the three year project.

ESB Networks say they have selected a diverse group of people from across the peninsula and have properties, ranging from a business that started in 1875 to more recent residential builds in the 2000s.

With an expected investment of €350,000, the project will include a number of deep retrofits which include the installation of solar panel PVs, battery management systems, electric vehicles chargers and air-source heat pumps in the ambassadors’ homes over the next 12 months. A spokesperson for ESB Networks said they are eagerly anticipating this phase of the pilot project.

Also on Monday the 10 local winners of the 10 solar PVs from the draw which took place during the Dingle Food festival will be announced.