Mayo Power Link to save €150,000 |
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MAYO County Council has become the first local authority to switch to an independent power supplier for its unmetered electricity services. The council is to save €150,000 on its annual energy costs through a new €1 million contract with Energia. Under the terms of the new 18-month electricity contract, Energia will supply over 8.5 GWh (gigawatt hours) of green electricity to Mayo County Council as well as Ballina, Castlebar and Westport town councils, to power the 11,000 public lights in the existing network. The local authority’s switch from conventional power generation to ‘green power’ will result in an annual reduction of more than 4,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Energia recently became the first independent power supplier to be authorised by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) to compete in the unmetered electricity supply market. Up to now, only the ESB was licensed to operate in this market. The ‘green power’ will be sourced from Energia’s extensive network of wind power facilities across Ireland. Commenting on the deal, Iarla Moran, Mayo County Council’s chief electrical engineer, said the move was made in order to make savings both “financially and environmentally”. Mayo County Council has a strong commitment to environmental responsibility, and this is the latest in a number of initiatives which have allowed us to significantly reduce our carbon footprint. This is the latest in a series of initiatives launched by Mayo County Council in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint. The council is currently looking at introducing renewable energy into some of its local authority housing, including the use of solar panels. Recently, the heating system for Ballina swimming pool was changed from oil to biomass and the council is powering some of its landfills with wind energy supplied by Airtricity. |
