Amarenco and EnergyCloud are Working Together to Fight Fuel Poverty
Amarenco has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EnergyCloud Ireland, which marks the start of a collaboration to address fuel poverty by using surplus renewable energy.
Fuel poverty affects 550,000 families in Ireland and up to 43% of households are at risk, according to a report from the ESRI. Meanwhile, EirGrid Group figures show curtailed – or ‘dispatch-down’ – energy from wind resources was 1,124 GWh in 2023, the equivalent of 8.9% of total available wind energy.
EnergyCloud, a social enterprise, has an innovative answer to both these problems, enabling surplus renewable energy, which would otherwise go to waste, to be redirected to provide a free tank of hot water in homes struggling with fuel poverty. This is achieved by fitting homes with smart technology designed to receive otherwise curtailed renewable electricity.
Amarenco is one of the leading independent renewable energy producers in Europe. With over 600MW energised, they have been working for a decade with farmers, local communities, industries and commercial enterprises to develop, build and operate grid, rooftop and agri solar projects.
Amarenco’s business covers the whole value chain worldwide, from plant design to financing, construction, and operational management. The goal is to drive the widespread adoption of low-carbon energy solutions and achieve an installed capacity of 1 GW by 2026, 4 GW by 2030 and 25 GW by 2050.
John Mullins, Executive Chairman of Amarenco, said: “At Amarenco, we are excited to start exploring the ways in which our portfolio of solar projects can support EnergyCloud’s mission and provide opportunities to help families in fuel poverty. The fuel poor should be protected and should benefit from the rollout of renewables in Ireland ands elsewhere. We will assist Energycloud in ensuring that Community Funds will be made available to support the very worthy objectives. EnergyCloud will help us all in the renewable sector that this green energy is usefully deployed. At Amarenco, we strongly believe in our responsibility to contribute towards a more sustainable, equitable society. Energycloud will also reduce curtailment on the grid by using each home as a battery”.
Alan Wyley, CEO of EnergyCloud Ireland, said: “This is an exciting development for EnergyCloud in Ireland as Amarenco is a major player in the solar energy market. The MOU sets out our shared vision of how we can collaborate to support families in fuel poverty, while also ensuring we use as much of the surplus renewable energy as possible. On behalf of EnergyCloud, I want to sincerely thank Amarenco for partnering with EnergyCloud and our stakeholders to collectively tackle fuel poverty.”