Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 June 2022
91. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the steps his Department can take to ease the gas price increases that are being experienced by residents of an area in Dublin (details supplied), who, as a result of a district heating system, are paying commercial rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28541/22]
View answerWhat steps can the Minister's Department take to ease the gas price increases that are being experienced by residents of Custom House Square, Dublin 1, who, as a result of a district heating system, are paying commercial rates?
I understand the development in question is heated by way of a local heating system, which is fuelled by natural gas. Gas and electricity retail markets in Ireland operate within a European regulatory regime, as we have just discussed, wherein those markets are commercial, liberalised and competitive. I am acutely aware of the impact current, internationally influenced, energy price increases are having on people and families. For that reason, the Government has introduced a series of measures to try to alleviate the impact, particularly on lower-income households.
Considerations in this regard will also encompass pre-existing district heating and local heating schemes already operating in Ireland.
Deputy Ó Murchú brought a similar issue in Louth to my attention, where a local heating system is powered by gas. I am aware of the development in the Deputy's constituency. There are only a small number of such systems, but they have been badly hit by the impact of very high wholesale gas market prices. Our Department, through the steering group, will examine measures to explore what ways we can assist such developments to get out of what is now a high-priced system. It will not be an easy switch, but I am very much willing to investigate what policy levers we can seek to use in this regard.
I thank the Minister for his answer. I am interested in the differentiation we are making between local heating systems and district heating systems. It is not one with which I am familiar. In the case of the situation in the Custom House Square, there is a gas-based district heating system operated by Frontline Energy. Those residents are paying four times the higher end of the rates available to residential customers. We are all talking about the cost of living now, but this is causing considerable strain. Deputy Ó Murchú raised this issue with the Minister as well. I believe it is impacting Carlinn Hall estate in Dundalk.
Yes, it is.
In both cases, residents are paying prices that are just through the roof. We are now into the summer months and, hopefully, people will be able to make choices to reduce their heating costs. I take the point that there is a steering group on the regulation of district heating systems. We are also, though, on a timeline here in respect of autumn and people then heading into months of high energy use. I flag this point to the Minister.
Absolutely. District heating is going to play an extremely important role in the decarbonisation of the heating sector. There are certain areas, especially where waste heat is available, where this approach will be the preferred solution compared with retrofitting or insulating buildings. It can have real advantages and offer protection for our country. There are slight variations and different forms of these systems. Local heating systems, such as the two in question here, and especially where a specific development is concerned, be that an apartment or housing development, usually consist of a shared heating system, typically with a management fee structure. District heating, as I see it being developed, is more designed on municipal lines across a whole range of different developments, and is planned by municipal local authorities and energy companies to help to funnel waste heat to a variety of areas.
These local heating schemes, which exist across the world and are effective, do not tend to use gas as the preferred heating solution. Typically, these types of systems use woodchip biomass or other similar supplies of fuel. One of the things we might do, in conjunction with the Deputies, is look at their constituencies to explore if there might be ways in which alternative fuels might be used to try to get these developments out of paying expensive gas market prices.
I see the differentiation being made by the Minister. To be honest, I do not know enough about Carlinn Hall to say what the situation is there either way. It is incredibly important, however, that we get this right. I am glad there is a steering committee, and I agree district heating must be a major source and option in respect of providing power. I very much hope to see the steering group examine options such as combined heat and power, CHP, systems. I know from a previous portion of my life that such systems work well and especially in tight urban areas, such as in my constituency with Custom House Square. Therefore, I welcome this development, but I again flag the importance of the timeline in respect of the autumn, and ensuring there is some intervention in this regard between now and the onset of those autumn months for these residents now experiencing huge costs. I also highlight the importance, reputationally, of ensuring we do not make the concept of district heating a problem for people. We must make it a good choice and the best choice.
We must deal with this issue of communal heating systems. I have spoken many times to the Minister previously about Carlinn Hall. In fairness to Deputy Hourigan, she got to the point that we have a slight break for the moment because of the time of year but that we must examine this issue now. The gas-fed nature of these systems must be dealt with under planning laws. This is an aberration that happened in Britain and Ireland. The laws have been changed in Britain. We need a Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, grant system that will deliver a change back to using other fuels, and perhaps biofuels of some sort. Equally, we must investigate mitigations, because people are under incredible pressure trying to pay large bills.
I endorse and echo Deputy Hourigan's comments. This is a matter we should be examining. Regarding district heating, we must get the planning right in this regard. Under the national planning framework, the population of our regional cities is set to increase by 60% in the next 20 years. We talk about the need to plan that increase in population around the provision of sustainable transport options, but we must also plan district heating systems. We must be co-locating industries that generate waste heat with residential developments to enable that waste heat to be provided to those residential areas.
We need to switch away from every possible use of gas. It will, though, have an interim role to play in a variety of areas. Regarding heating in buildings, and especially in new buildings, I agree with Deputy Leddin about the need to switch away from using gas connections as the future of heating and towards a range of other options, such as electric, biomass and other alternative sources. Codema, Dublin's energy agency, has done some good work in this area. My colleague, Ciarán Cuffe MEP, shared an interesting graphic from that agency on Twitter recently. It showed a map of the areas in Dublin, my city, where there is potential in this regard. We will have to do the same thing in every city and in every council area. I have been going out to discuss the local climate plans with members of councils across the country. One of the first things I say on such occasions is that as those councils work on their development plans they must explore where there is potential for district heating and where there is waste heat, and also examine how we can design new residential communities which can avail of low-cost district heating systems and local heating solutions. Therefore, I agree with all three Deputies that this is the direction we must take.
