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Tallaght District Heating Scheme

Tallaght District Heating Scheme

2018 onwards

Codema is project partner with South Dublin County Council to develop the Tallaght District Heating Scheme, which will provide a low-carbon heat supply for customers in Tallaght.

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Codema is project partner with South Dublin County Council to develop the Tallaght District Heating Scheme (TDHS), which will be the first large-scale district heating network of its kind in Ireland.  Phase 1 of of the scheme is due to begin construction in May 2021.

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.  

Codema has helped South Dublin County Council to secure 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.

What is District Heating?

District heating systems use a central heat source and distribute this heat through super-insulated pipes to the customer. This makes district heating a convenient and sustainable way of heating buildings and water. District heating schemes are completely fuel-agnostic, meaning that many multiple heat sources can feed into the grid. This is good news for driving competitive heating costs, for security of supply, and importantly for low-carbon heat.

About the Tallaght District Heating Scheme

In the case of the Tallaght District Heating System, waste heat from the local Amazon data centre will be used to supply heat to new and existing South Dublin County Council buildings and the TU Dublin-Tallaght campus through this local district heating network. There is also potential for other customers, such as the new residential development at Belgard Gardens, to connect to the network at a later phase.  

What are the benefits of being connected to a district heating scheme?

  • Lower emissions and greater use of renewable energy
  • Hot water on demand 24/7 - very reliable system, no more worrying about leaving the immersion on!
  • No boiler in your home - more space, less maintenance
  • Improved air quality
  • Better Building Energy Ratings
  • Flexible system - future-proofed to provide heat from multiple renewable sources
  • Cost - The heat price will be competitive with alternative heating technologies, in order to ensure value for customers. Heat from district heating networks is typically cheaper than alternative heating methods so it is often used to alleviate fuel poverty. Heat Works, which is the not-for-profit utility that will be operated by South Dublin County Council, will be fully transparent with customers when it comes to heat prices and will publish these prices on the Heat Works website.

What is ‘waste heat’?

Waste heat is the heat energy (e.g. bi-product of industrial processes and data centres) that is not put to use and escapes into the atmosphere. By capturing or recycling this waste heat through a district heating system, it allows this waste heat to be used efficiently to heat the buildings connected to the system. In Dublin alone, there is enough waste heat and renewable heat sources to heat the equivalent of over one million homes.

Parties involved:

South Dublin County Council: Main lead - will own and manage the Tallaght District Heating Scheme through ‘Heat Works’, Ireland’s first not-for-profit energy utility
Codema: Energy adviser to South Dublin County Council, providing technical, procurement and project management assistance to the Tallaght District Heating Scheme and leading the HeatNet NWE project
Fortum eNext: Main Energy Service Company (ESCo). Responsible for the design, build, operation and maintenance of the energy center and heat network on behalf of Heat Works
Amazon Web Services: Supplier of low-grade waste heat to the heat network
TU Dublin-Tallaght: Main 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

If you would like to know more about the Tallaght District Heating Scheme, please contact John O'Shea, Energy Systems Analyst at john.oshea@codema.ie.

Photo Source: Peyton Edward / Wikimedia Commons