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SSE Airtricity, Microsoft and SEAI partner to help Collinstown Park Community College with its sustainability efforts

Collinstown Park Community College, a 1,000-student secondary school based in West Dublin, have participated in the Green Schools programme for the last four years. They have a clear mission statement for energy efficiency and are driven in changing their energy behaviour.

As part of Microsoft’s Datacentre Community Development programme, Microsoft and Collinstown Park Community College have an existing relationship that has been focused until now on mentorship and community employment. Microsoft recognised an opportunity to further assist the school with their sustainability efforts.

Microsoft approached their energy partner, SSE Airtricity Business Energy, to develop a solution that would meet the school’s needs of increasing their energy efficiency, while also driving down their energy costs, one of the biggest annual outlays for the school.

The Solution

SSE Airtricity Business Energy Solutions used their expertise as Ireland’s largest renewable energy generator to design, develop and deliver a bespoke, turnkey solution. It meets Microsoft’s vision and ambitions to improve the school’s energy efficiency, deliver energy savings and provide an education platform to teach students and their families to integrate sustainability practices into their everyday lives.

In Association with

As a leading sustainable energy provider, SSE Airtricity also has an in-depth knowledge of the supports available from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). By utilising this knowledge and working with SEAI, the scope of the project was increased, allowing the school to benefit even further.

SSE Airtricity designed a project that involved installing modern low-carbon infrastructure throughout the school, which would provide substantial saving on the school’s current energy demand, with expected reductions of 50% anticipated when all measures are complete. A successful application to the SEAI for project grant funding, combined with Microsoft matching this funding, resulted in a total investment of €250,000 for the school.

Energy Efficiency Infrastructure

SSE Airtricity, alongside their partners in Activ8 Solar Energies and Verde LED, installed modern, low-carbon infrastructure across the Collinstown Park Community College campus, including roof-mounted solar PV panels, battery storage units and LED lighting upgrades.

Activ8 Solar Energies, one of Ireland’s leading solar PV installers, installed 30 solar panels across two days on the roof of the school’s sports hall. The 9.3 kWp solar PV panel installation will create up to 8,000 kWh annually. This will allow the school to reduce their electricity bills by maximising self-consumption from the rooftop PV solar system.

Verde LED, a leader in commercial LED lighting, installed lighting upgrades in the main school building, sports hall and external lighting. These upgrades are improving the school environment for the teachers, students and visitors, as well as delivering value for money through energy savings. The lighting upgrades alone will result in over 110,000 kWhs saved annually.

Verde LED was sensitive to the school being an active learning environment. Accordingly, the install took place outside of the school’s regular hours and at weekends to minimise disruption to students. However, the infrastructure was just one element of the project – what really makes this different to a standard infrastructure upgrade project is the energy innovation and educational elements of the project.

Energy Innovation

An innovative storage battery has also been installed at the school, which will allow the energy generated by the solar panels to be stored and used when needed. Microsoft and SSE Airtricity are monitoring the interaction between the solar PV system and the battery, with a view to using this research to help improve industry insights into how generation and storage technologies interact.
Microsoft have also installed a number of high-definition screens throughout the school that show real-time details of the school’s energy consumption, and the energy being generated by the solar panels on the roof.

Educational Programme

At the core of the project is a strong education programme that aims to inform students, staff and parents about renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency. The high-definition screens are using data in real time, in an easy-to-interpret format that simultaneously shows how much energy is being used and generated.

Students and teachers will also participate in SSE Airtricity’s ‘7 Day Challenge’. This seven-day programme is designed to give advice on ways to reduce energy waste by supporting sustainable actions and creating new, lifelong sustainable habits. A visit to Ireland’s largest wind farm, Galway Wind Park, is also planned and will showcase energy generation on a huge scale.

Stephen Gallagher, Director of Business Energy, SSE Airtricity, said: “SSE Airtricity is delighted to partner with Microsoft Ireland to deliver this truly innovative project. It successfully combines energy efficiency with the integration of renewable energy and battery storage infrastructure, as well as an educational awareness programme for the school, to create an outstanding community engagement project that will also deliver real annual energy and cost savings.

“Additionally, we’re really excited to see how the energy-saving tools installed at Collinstown Park Community College will enable future learning, both for the school community as well as for SSE Airtricity and Microsoft Ireland.”

Eoin Doherty, Microsoft Regional Datacentre Director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, added: “We are proud to partner with SSE Airtricity and SEAI on this project to benefit Collinstown Park Community College. This project appealed to Microsoft specifically because of the educational aspects of the projects that will teach Collinstown Park students how to incorporate environmental sustainability habits into their everyday lives.”

Results

The results following the completion of the project speak for themselves:

• Annual energy savings of LED Lighting upgrade - 105,00kWh
• Annual energy generation from solar PV panels - 8,000kWh
• Annual cost savings €16,000 (approximately half the school’s annual energy spend).

Further Information

To find out more about how SSE Airtricity Business Energy Solutions can help your business achieve their sustainable ambitions, email businesssolutions@sseairtricity.com or call 1850 40 40 80.

Pictured (l-r): Eoin Doherty, Microsoft Regional Datacentre Director for EMEA, Jim Gannon, Chief Executive of the SEAI; Stephen Gallagher, Director of Business Energy for SSE Ireland and Pauline Duffy, Principal, Collinstown Park Community College