The Defence Forces's Solar PV Project

The project

As part of its ongoing commitment to achieve targets outlined in the Climate Action Plan, the Irish Defence Forces continues its programme of implementing renewable energy onsite generation through the installation of Solar PV systems.

In 2019, the Defence Forces installed a 350kWp photo voltaic system on the roof of one of the hangars in Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, County Dublin. Over 275,000kWh of electricity was produced in the initial 12-month period.

This equates to a €33,000 saving on electricity and over 100 tonnes avoided CO₂ emissions per annum in Baldonnel. The project brought the PV generating capacity in the Defence Forces to 1.2MWp.

What's next?

There are now 11 PV systems installed in various Defence Forces locations across the country with plans to continue the roll-out of further PV systems. This is just one example of the Defences Forces ongoing plan to achieve energy-related targets, which also includes the electrification of heating and transport.

Energy efficiency in the public sector

The seventh Annual Report on Public Sector Energy Efficiency Performance is out now and was prepared for the Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications by SEAI. It is set in the context of Ireland's EU and national commitments and wider climate change goals, whereby a target of 33% energy efficiency improvement is to be achieved by all Irish public bodies (as defined in SI 426 of 2014) by end of 2020.

Public bodies are required to report annual energy efficiency data to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) which manages the reporting process on behalf of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).