IrBEA National Conference 2020 – Bioenergy Future Ireland
The Irish BioEnergy Association (IrBEA) National Bioenergy Conference – Bioenergy Future Ireland will take place in Croke Park on Wednesday February 26th.
News & Blog
Maxi-Therm Oak Wood Briquettes
Commencing in January 2020 we are offering Maxi-Therm oak wood briquettes for sale in our web shop. These briquettes are suitable for all fireplaces and wood burning stoves.
SEAI Registered Solar PV Installer
Clearpower have been added to the SEAI list of registered installers for Solar PV. This means we have met all the required standards, including becoming Safe Electric certified with RECI, which was no mean feat in itself.
Department of Finance Northern Ireland Contract
Clearpower have just commenced a 2nd consecutive 5-year term for supply of wood pellets and boiler maintenance services to a collection of public sector buildings across Northern Ireland.
Greene by Name and Green by Nature
The Clearpower team has grown further with the addition of graduate engineer, Aidan Greene. Aidan graduated with an honours engineering degree from DCU in 2019 and he brings youth and enthusiasm to the team as well as curiosity and problem-solving ability.
Wood Fuel Quality Assured Wood Chip from Clearpower
Caveat emptor! Buyer beware. All wood chip is not the same. Just because it looks like wood chip doesn’t mean your boiler will be able to burn it efficiently, or even at all.
Energy in Agriculture 2019
Clearpower have been exhibiting at the Energy in Agriculture show every year since its inception in 2016. It has grown from strength to strength and is now our main platform for reaching out to the agricultural community.
New Recruits
The Clearpower team is very excited to welcome Paul Entwistle and Ger Devlin on board. Paul joins the team as Fuels Operations Manager and Ger joins as Head of Commercial.
Kerry County Council Wood Chip Contract
Clearpower are delighted to have been awarded a 3-year contract for supply of wood chip to Moyderwell District Heating System in Tralee, Co. Kerry, following a public tender process.
ISO Standards Accreditation
Clearpower has successfully migrated from OHSAS18001:2007 to ISO45001:2018. We are now formally certified to ISO45001:2018 which supersedes the old 18001 standard for Occupational Health and Safety.
We’re Hiring
The biomass heating market is set to experience significant growth in the coming years and Clearpower offers an exciting career path for ambitious and energetic people who want to work in a dynamic environment.
The Energy Show
The Clearpower team is looking forward to exhibiting at the annual SEAI Energy Show on March 27th & 28th. This is the main showcase event in the Irish Sustainable Energy calendar and is FREE to attend. The event maintains a focus on sustainable energy, including wood chip and wood pellet boilers, solar PV, heat pumps and much more.
Accelerated Capital Allowances (ACA)
The Accelerated Capital Allowance (ACA) is a tax incentive for companies paying Irish corporation tax who invest in new energy efficient equipment. The ACA allows companies to write off 100% of the purchase value of qualifying energy efficient equipment against their profit in the year of purchase. This compares to just 12.5% for ineligible plant and machinery. This scheme runs until 31st December 2020.
Upcoming Dates for Your Diary
The Irish BioEnergy Association (IrBEA) National Bioenergy Conference – Bioenergy Future Ireland will take place in Croke Park on Wednesday February 13th. This annual event is a must for anyone involved, or looking to get involved, in the Irish bioenergy sector.
Energy in Poultry
Teagasc are holding their Energy in Poultry event at Ballyhaise Agricultural College on Friday December 14th. Speakers on the day will include Ray Langton of SEAI, Barry Caslin of Teagasc and Paddy Phelan of 3CEA. This event will be a one stop shop for anyone interested in the application of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the poultry sector.
Energy Costs Halved by Switching from Oil to Wood
The November 14th edition of the Irish Farmers Journal (IFJ) reported on an Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) event which was held several weeks previously. In the article IFJs Donal Magner praised biomass as an alternative to oil and gave the example of Wexford Tomatoes who switched from oil to biomass 7 years ago, when they installed a 2MW wood chip boiler.
Renewable Energy – A Political Priority
Another budget and another chance missed. Irrespective of who delivers it, the political focus remains on the familiar budgetary elements such as health, education, social welfare, tobacco and alcohol while ignoring the “Global Challenge of our Generation” (as per Mr. Denis Naughten, TD, May 25 th 2016, speaking at a launch event for Local Authority Climate Change Adaptation Strategy
Support Scheme for Renewable Heat now OPEN!
The Support Scheme for Renewable Heat (SSRH) opened for applications on September 12th 2018. This scheme provides an installation grant for air, ground and water source heat pumps. The grant funds up to 30% of eligible costs and €7 million was provided for this stage of the Scheme in Budget 2018. Applications are open for commercial, industrial, agricultural, district heating and other non-domestic heat users not in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Energy In Agriculture 2018
Energy in Agriculture 2018, Ireland’s largest Energy Event for the Farming Community, will take place at Gurteen College, Co Tipperary (Eircode E53 TP93) on Tuesday 21st August 2018. Last year’s event attracted 2500 attendees and 63 exhibitors.
The French Biomass Industry
In our inaugural blog post, Jimmy Chevalier, gives us a rundown on the French biomass industry. Jimmy is an engineering intern with us for the summer from Polytech Nantes, where he is studying for a master’s degree in energy management by apprenticeship. His brief introduction is a useful yardstick for us as we patiently await the Support Scheme for Renewable Heat.
Certified Energy Manager
Ciaran Miller, Clearpower Design Manager, is now qualified as a Certified Energy Manager (CEM®). A CEM is a professional standard in energy management covering areas such as energy auditing, reduction of energy consumption and implementation of an energy management strategy. If you are interested in any of these, or related areas, contact Clearpower now for our expert assistance.
€500m Climate Action Fund
Minister Naughten has announced €500 million worth of funding for climate action over the next decade under Project Ireland 2040. The funds under Project Ireland 2040 will be open to submissions from this summer, with funding being allocated from 2019 onwards. Minister Naughten has said that “The €500million fund… can support projects ranging from wave energy off our west coast to electrifying our bus fleet, to heating our homes and businesses using farm and food waste”. The €500 million Climate Action Fund will be open for applications in the coming weeks. This is a “blank canvas for anyone here in Ireland to come forward with innovative ideas that will help to meet our climate and energy targets” announced Minister Naughten.
Energy Efficient Hand Dryers at Fort Lucan
Fort Lucan opened in 1993 and has since become one of Ireland’s premier adventure centres. It provides a range of attractions for children aged between 2 and 12 years of age. Fort Lucan has a capacity to cater for 600 people comfortably and approximately 50,000 children visit every year. Fort Lucan has many pairs of dirty hands requiring washing and drying every day. Hence they can achieve some real savings by switching to the energy efficient Savortex hand dryer. Clearpower installed 2 no. Savortex EcoCurve 550A hand dryers at Fort Lucan in June 2018 and we have had very positive feedback since then. These 2 hand dryers will reduce Fort Lucan’s electricity costs. Savortex hand dryers are equipped with a 550W motor compared with the average hand dryer which has a 1500W – 2000W motor. The Savortex hand dryers are maintenance free and come with an industry leading 7 year warranty.
ISO Standards Accreditation
Clearpower successfully transitioned to ISO9001:2015 and ISO14001:2015 management systems and also successfully retained OHSAS 18001:2007. We aim to fully migrate from OHSAS 18001 to ISO45001:2018 within the next 12 months. Well done to Eric Bolton and Tom Sheehy for navigating the transition and audit process!
Monaghan VEC Fuel & Maintenance Contract
Clearpower have won the public tender for provision of heat fuel supply including operation and maintenance of the biomass heating plant (including oil boiler) at Monaghan education campus, Monaghan. The campus consists of a 2446m2 Primary School, 3980m2 Post-Primary School, 7050m2 Further Education Building, 1300m2 Sports Centre and 1940m2 Theatre. Since 2013, this campus has been heated by 2 no. Schmid wood chip boilers totalling 850kW and is supplemented by a 780kW oil boiler. We’re delighted to have Cavan & Monaghan Education & Training Board as a new customer and we hope to work together successfully for many years to come.
Clearpower launches innovative Kitchen Energy Recovery System
Our Kitchen Energy Recovery System (KERS) is suitable for most commercial catering kitchens in Hotels, Restaurants, Canteens and Take-Aways. A super-efficient way to harness the extract waste heat from you kitchen area and converting into a hot water supply. Contact us today for a free survey anywhere on the island of Ireland. As a special introductory offer you will also get a Free Boiler Service (gas, oil or biomass) with every system ordered during 2018! The earlier you install one of these unique systems the more you save your €€€'s & £££'s.
Clearpower hosts visit of An Taoiseach and Ministers to T&A Byrne Renewables and Monart Destination Spa
Tom Sheehy, sales manager, Clearpower; Minister Michael D’Arcy TD; Ted Byrne, owner, T & A Byrne Renewables; An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD, Eric Bolton, project manager, Clearpower; Minister Paul Kehoe TD, Minister Paul Kehoe TD, Minister Andrew Doyle TD; Tom Sheehy, sales manager for Clearpower, played host to a very high-powered political visit to T&A …
We’re Hiring!
We are looking for a Sales Development Executive to join the Clearpower team. The ideal candidate will be highly self-motivated with a proven sales track record, excellent communication skills and the ability to act on their own initiative. More detail is available HERE.
2017 National Ploughing Championships
Clearpower will be exhibiting at the 2017 Ploughing Championships in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. This is one of the largest trade events in Europe and will run from Tuesday September 19th to Thursday September 21st. There will be 1700 exhibitors and circa 280,000 visitors over the 3 days. We can confirm that it’s a good day …
Energy in Agriculture 2017
Clearpower exhibited at the very well attended Gurteen Energy in Agriculture event. This was the second edition of this annual event which we expect is set to become a fixture in the Irish renewable energy calendar. Well done to Teagasc, Tipperary Energy Agency and everyone else involved for hosting a very well run and informative …