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Official Launch of the Tallaght District Heating Scheme

06th April, 2023

Photo credit: Ben Ryan

We are delighted to announce that Ireland’s first large-scale district heating network was officially opened in Tallaght today by Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan.

The Tallaght District Heating Scheme is now supplying low-carbon heat to South Dublin Council’s County Hall building and library complex, along with buildings in the TU Dublin Tallaght campus. In its first phase, the scheme will also supply heat to the upcoming Innovation Centre and a nearby affordable apartment scheme, before connecting other customers in the Tallaght area to the network in subsequent phases.

The Tallaght District Heating Scheme 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.

Trading as Heat Works, the scheme is fully-owned and operated by South Dublin County Council as the first not-for-profit heat utility in Ireland. Heat Works intends to be an exemplar heat network business in Ireland, delivering economic, environmental, and social benefits for residents and businesses.

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 delivers a high level of innovation, as waste heat from the nearby Amazon data centre is supplying the heat to the network. During normal operation, heat demand is 100% covered from waste heat coming from the data centre.

As the energy agency to South Dublin County Council, Codema provided best-practice technical, procurement and project management assistance to the Tallaght District Heating Scheme, along with helping to secure funding of almost €4.5 million through the Government’s Climate Action Fund, as well as support from the Interreg HeatNet NWE project and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Commenting earlier today, CEO of Codema, Donna Gartland, said: “Today marks a huge milestone for low-carbon heat in Ireland. We have worked tirelessly with South Dublin County Council on the Tallaght District Heating Scheme over the last number of years to get this innovative project off the ground. Hopefully, this will set a much-needed precedent for the development of many more district heating schemes across Dublin and nationally.”

The parties involved in the Tallaght District Heating Scheme are:

  • South Dublin County Council: Main lead – owners of the Tallaght District Heating Scheme, managed through Heat Works, Ireland’s first not-for-profit energy utility
  • Codema: Energy agency to South Dublin County Council, providing technical, policy, funding, procurement and project management assistance to the Tallaght District Heating Scheme and led the HeatNet NWE project
  • Fortum eNext: Main Energy Service Company (ESCo). Contracted to design, build, operation and maintenance of the energy center and heat network on behalf of Heat Works
  • Enerpower: Irish subcontractor of Fortum that will provide day-to-day technical services for the plant and heat network (along with the substations) as an integral part of the district heating system
  • Amazon Web Services: Supplier of low-grade waste heat to the heat network
  • TU Dublin-Tallaght: Heat customer and member of the board of the Heat Works company
  • Philip Lee: Main legal adviser to the project, provided legal advice to SDCC during contract development and procurement
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