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Construction begins on the Tallaght District Heating System

21st May, 2021

The rain couldn't dampen our spirits as the pipes arrived and construction officially began on Ireland's first large-scale district heating system in Tallaght.

The Tallaght District Heating Scheme will initially connect a number of South Dublin County Council’s buildings and the TU Dublin-Tallaght campus, before connecting other public, private and residential customers in the Tallaght area to the network in subsequent phases.

The Tallaght District Heating Scheme is being led by South Dublin County Council with support from Codema. The scheme will also operate as Ireland’s first not-for-profit utility and will make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions in the area, saving almost 1,500 tonnes of CO2 each year and establishing Tallaght as a leader in innovation in the area of climate change.

District heating is a network of highly-insulated pipes that delivers low-carbon heat from a central energy source to provide space heating and hot water to the buildings connected to the network.  In the case of the Tallaght District Heating Scheme, this project will deliver a high level of innovation, as waste heat from the nearby Amazon data centre will supply the heat to the network.  During normal operation, heat demand will be 100% covered from the data centre waste heat.

The first phase of this project will connect existing and new local authority buildings and the TU Dublin-Tallaght campus to this local district heating network.  There is also potential for the new residential development at Belgard Gardens, which will be home to more than 3,000 people, to connect to the network at a later phase. 

South Dublin County Council will receive funding of almost €4.5 million for the Tallaght District Heating Scheme through the Government's Climate Action Fund, as well as support from the Interreg North-West Europe HeatNet NWE project and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Photo courtesy of Ben Ryan

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