Tag: sse

SSE Airtricity announces €5 million Generation Green Community Fund

SSE Airtricity has launched a €5 million all-island Community Fund with the aim of delivering meaningful community benefits across the island of Ireland. The company plans to undertake a ten week consultation process, which opens today, and which will continue until 26 July, inviting views from communities, individuals and organisations from towns, villages, inner cities, and rural heartlands, to advise how the fund could best support green initiatives throughout our communities.
The SSE Airtricity Generation Green Community fund is part of SSE Airtricity’s commitment to customers and the communities it serves by supporting them on the path to net zero through education, awareness raising, as well as grant funding and energy efficiency supports. The fund aims to support communities in reaching net zero by delivering a positive and lasting social impact.
Heather Humphreys T.D., Minister for Social Protection and Minister for Rural and Community Development said: “I am delighted that SSE Airtricity has officially launched its €5 million Green Generation Community Fund. This is a transformative level of funding that will make a real and lasting difference in rural and urban communities. It’s pleasing to see SSE Airtricity acknowledge the integral role that local communities the length and breadth of Ireland will play in the transition to Net Zero through the launch of its community fund and consultation process today.
“This new fund will support local communities across Ireland with biodiversity, education, and decarbonisation projects, along with enhancing services and amenities in rural and urban areas.
I would encourage local communities and organisations to positively engage with SSE Airtricity and its Green Generation Community Fund during the consultation phase.”
Klair Neenan, Managing Director of SSE Airtricity, said: “Getting to net zero is in everyone’s interest and local communities will be at the heart of the energy transition. We know there are passionate people and groups working hard across Ireland and we want to help them make a positive difference by powering up their sustainability plans. But funding can often be an issue. That’s why we’re delighted to launch our unique Generation Green Community Fund.
“We know issues like biodiversity, education and decarbonisation are big priorities but to ensure the funding makes the biggest difference we want to hear from local communities directly.  That’s why we’re launching this initial consultation, and we look forward to hearing from communities and individuals, to inform how the fund should be used.”
As part of the consultation process, SSE Airtricity is inviting local communities and individuals to shape what the priorities for the fund should be. This will ensure the fund focuses on what is most important to communities. Examples of priorities may include green energy upgrades for community buildings, community biodiversity projects or green skills workshops and education.
The SSE Airtricity Generation Green Community Fund will be administered in line with a number of UN Sustainable Development Goals, aligning with SSE Airtricity’s core sustainability priorities around community, biodiversity, education and decarbonisation.
The company has a long-standing commitment of supporting its customers and community groups. In response to the global energy crisis in 2022 and 2023, SSE Airtricity established a €25 million customer support fund to help its customers deal with the impacts of inflation.
The SSE Airtricity Generation Green Community Fund will be open to application later this year, following the initial consultation period.
To submit your views to the consultation or for more information, please visit: www.sseairtricity.com/communityfund

The SSE Airtricity League joins the world’s best in EA SPORTS FC With Club Packs to feature for the first time in FC 24

EA SPORTS FC™ today announced that the ever popular SSE Airtricity League Club Packs will feature in the highly anticipated FC 24. The individual club covers of all 10 Premier Division teams will be available to download free from https://www.ea.com/FC24 when the game launches worldwide on Friday, September 29th.

This will be the 16th season that the SSE Airtricity League will be available in game, and the first year the league will feature under the rebrand of EA SPORTS FC.

Join the Club and support your local team as fans connect to their local club by simply downloading and printing their customized sleeve, to replace the existing cover in their FC 24 box. Fans can also play with their local club heroes in game under the SSE Airtricity League competition. The 10 Premier Division teams to be featured in FC 24 are Bohemian FC, Cork City FC, Derry City FC, Drogheda United FC, Dundalk FC, Shamrock Rovers FC, Shelbourne FC, Sligo Rovers FC, St Patrick’s Athletic FC and UCD AFC.

With authenticity and innovation at its core, EA SPORTS FC™24 showcases the best players from the biggest clubs, leagues, and competitions around the globe – in both the men’s and women’s game. Home to over 19,000 fully licensed players, 700 teams, 100 stadiums and 30 leagues across world football, the SSE Airtricity League joins the world’s best competitions in EA SPORTS FC including LALIGA, Bundesliga, Serie A and CONMEBOL Libertadores. EA SPORTS also announced an exclusive renewal with UEFA, meaning EA SPORTS FC™ 24 is the only place you can play the iconic UEFA Champions League, UEFA Women’s Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League and UEFA Super Cup.

Experience the World’s Game as EA SPORTS FC 24 launches worldwide from Friday September 29th, 2023 and will be available to play on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. For more details on FC 24, visit www.ea.com/FC24

About FC 24:
EA SPORTS FC™ 24 Takes In-Game Realism to the Next Level
EA SPORTS has changed the way people play and enjoy football, and new, cutting-edge technologies will see EA SPORTS FC™ 24 deliver unparalleled realism in every match. EA SPORTS FC™ 24 will include:

  • HyperMotionV* is our biggest leap forward in realism to-date, translating the rhythm and fluidity of real-world football into The World’s Game using volumetric data from more than 180 professional men’s and women’s football matches that allows us to reflect real-world movement in-game more than ever before.
  • PlayStyles optimised by Opta dimensionalises athletes, going beyond overall ratings to bring to life the on-pitch abilities that make players special. Each PlayStyle gives players unique capabilities you’ll see and feel that make their way of playing more authentic.
  • An enhanced Frostbite™ Engine delivers The World’s Game in lifelike detail, bringing a new level of immersion through redesigned player models, smoother animations and visibly unique characteristics that make each player special. Kits now move like real-world materials, reacting to a player’s stride, shifting as they change direction, and flowing along with them as they play.

SSE Renewables donates €1.1 million to almost 400 Irish community groups

SSE Renewables, Ireland’s leading developer, owner, and operator of renewable energy has donated over €1 million to almost 400 local charities and community groups across Ireland in the last year, once again demonstrating the company’s ongoing commitment to supporting the economic and social wellbeing of those local communities which host its wind farms. 

The contribution is revealed in SSE Renewables’ 2022/23 Community Investment Review for Ireland, which has been published today. 

In total SSE Renewables has invested €1.1 million this year from its wind farms into 382 community-based projects across the country. The funding generated for the SSE Renewables Community Fund comes from revenues earned by its wind farms across Ireland, including the Galway Wind Park Community Fund, which is Ireland’s largest community benefit fund. This year’s €1.1 million investment contribution is one of the largest-ever annual investments made by SSE Renewables into local communities from its wind farms. 

SSE Renewables’ funding helps support local groups, sports organisations and schools among others in rural Irish communities to develop their facilities with energy efficiency and sustainability upgrades as well as social and environmental projects that enable community development. 

The SSE Renewables’ 2022/23 Community Investment Review marks 20 years of wind powered funding by the company into Irish communities. Since it first launched its Community Fund programme in 2003, SSE Renewables has invested over €11.4 million into almost 4,500 community-based projects located closest to its wind farms. This funding is awarded to community groups near wind farms located in Cork, Cavan, Donegal, Wexford, Monaghan, Sligo, Limerick, Kerry, Tipperary and Galway. 

Stephen Wheeler, Managing Director of SSE Renewables said: “With the climate emergency and energy security at the top of the agenda, we’re proud at SSE Renewables to be playing our part in helping Ireland’s transition to renewable power. In the last year we’ve continued to produce huge amounts from our onshore wind farms across Ireland, while progressing the next wave of industry leading projects, both onshore and offshore. 

“We recognise that an integral part of a just transition is sharing value with the local communities in which we operate. We’re committed to investing to ensure Irish communities have what they need now and for the future. That’s why in the last year SSE Renewables has donated over €1 million to local projects to invest in issues as diverse as inclusive sport to biodiversity centres. In doing so, we’re aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring the investments we make into local communities help deliver affordable and clean energy, take climate action to reduce emissions, and support the creation of sustainable cities and communities. 

“As we build more renewable assets across Ireland, we’re ensuring the country benefits from local, clean, resilient energy with a commitment to local supply chains to boost our economy. As part of this commitment, we’ll collaborate with communities to help them achieve their ambitions and support thriving, robust and prosperous communities across Ireland.” 

In addition to providing funding support to local groups and organisations, this year’s Community Investment Review details the education funding support SSE Renewables is providing to young people from its ongoing scholarship programme. In the last year, the Galway Wind Park Scholarship Fund has provided just over €50,000 in scholarships for 16 young students who live near Ireland’s largest wind farm and wish to attend their third level college courses of choice. This brings the total number of young scholars supported financially by the Galway Wind Park Scholarship since it was launched in 2019 to just over 80. 

Alongside funding contributions across local communities, 2022/23 has been a year of growth and development for SSE Renewables’ Community Funds. In County Donegal the company worked with development partner FuturEnergy Ireland to undertake an extensive community consultation with local representatives and community members in the design and key priorities of a new community fund for the Lenalea Wind Farm, which is due to open next year. 

This year also saw a significant increase in applications from communities across Ireland looking for measures and projects designed to support the delivery of low carbon infrastructure in rural areas, and so support a greener future and tackle the climate emergency. 

In County Galway, €110,000 was presented to Comhairle Ceantar na nOileán from Galway Wind Park to establish the Low Carbon and Sustainability Centre of Excellence in Casla. The centre is creating new sustainable economic opportunities to support the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the region by supporting the re-skilling of workers and supporting homeowners to complete retrofit improvements. The centre is providing skills training in emerging retrofit technologies including solar PV, external wall insulation and ventilation. The project plans to train 280 professionals per annum and support the energy improvement of up to 10,000 local homes. 

Patrick McHugh, Director of Comhairle Ceantar na nOileán, said: “In Galway, the waiting list for energy efficient home upgrades is nearly two years. Through the development of this training centre in Galway, timeframes for upgrades will be reduced with the project having the potential to impact over 30,000 individuals and in excess of 10,000 homes, so contributing towards Ireland’s net zero goal.” 

In the community of Bunnoe, County Cavan, where the next nearest publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charging point is over 10km away, SSE Renewables’ funding totalling €2,500 has supported the installation of a first-ever EV charger at the Bunnoe Community Enterprise Centre. Visitors to the community centre, GAA club and football club can now charge their electric vehicles while visiting the local amenities. 

Patsy Fitzpatrick, Volunteer at Bunnoe Community Enterprise Centre, said: “In a rural area like Bunnoe, people have to travel at least 10km to access an EV charging point. The provision of this charger has improved efficiency and reduced cost for our locals, it has attracted people to the area to avail of the charger and use other resources whilst waiting, and most importantly it demonstrates our commitment and support towards achieving net zero.” 

SSE Renewables will continue to support Ireland’s green recovery and it hopes to continue the same level of successful support to communities in the coming year. In the coming year it will continue public consultation on the design and priorities for a community fund for Yellow River Wind Farm in Rhode, County Offaly, which it is currently constructing. 

In the offshore wind energy space, SSE Renewables is continuing to develop plans for Ireland’s 2030 offshore targets, including delivery of its flagship Irish offshore wind project, the 800MW Arklow Bank Wind Park II which is expected to generate a community benefit fund of around €6m annually should it become operational before the end of the decade. 

You can read the SSE Renewables 2022/23 Community Investment Review here.

SSE Airtricity launches new ‘first and best in market’ solar installation offering

SSE Airtricity, together with partners Activ8, have launched a new solar product that will ensure customers are paid a market leading 34c per kWh for excess solar energy produced and exported back to the grid.

New and existing SSE Airtricity customers who have had their solar panels installed with Activ8 from April 13, 2023, will be eligible to be paid a premium of 10 cent per kWh exported on top of the current 24 cent export rate, for two years.

The product launch comes as the Irish government abolished the rate of VAT for domestic solar installations from May 1, 2023. This offer complements the existing range of energy solutions SSE offers customers, providing easy access to green energy and improving energy efficiency in homes across the country.

Solar panel installations have many benefits:

  • Households can save up to 50% on energy bills and generate up to 80% of their hot water needs.
  • Surplus energy generated through a typical solar PV install can be exported back to the energy grid, putting money back in customers’ pockets and providing more renewable electricity for Ireland’s energy system.
  • The majority of installations are completed in one day with minimal disruption to the household.
  • As an SSE Airtricity customer, a new installation will earn an export rate of 34 cent per kWh. That is a 10 cent premium versus the standard rate of 24 cent per kWh.

Helen Ryan, from County Louth, who had her solar installation completed recently with Activ8, said:

“We decided to install solar panels to help save on our electricity bills as well as wanting to produce renewable energy on our own. We have a gas boiler, so being able to generate so much hot water was also a massive reason as to why we went with solar panels.

“We have noticed a big difference in our bills, even for the months of January, February and March. Our electricity bills are currently 30% of what they were and that’s not accounting for our savings on gas with our hot water production from the solar panels. It’s funny how we changed our usage behaviours so quickly after installation too. My parents are awaiting a survey now after seeing our panels in action, so I would definitely recommend them.”

Klair Neenan, Director at SSE Airtricity said:

“As a company with green in our DNA, we know that customers want easy access to green energy solutions that help them and the environment. At SSE Airtricity we want to empower our customers and be their one stop shop for all energy related matters. With 0% Vat and up to €2,400 available in SEAI Grants, there has never been a better time to invest in renewable solar energy and offset rising energy costs. Families and households can generate their own electricity for their home and lower their bills, all while contributing to the ultimate goal of net zero.”

This offer is available for all new solar installations (from April 13, 2023), visit www.sseairtricity.com for more information.

Netskope expands presence in Ireland with new Dublin data centre

Netskope, the SASE leader, today announced an extension of its NewEdge network with the opening of a new data centre in Dublin, Ireland. Serving millions of enterprise users around the world, and with full-compute data centres in more than 60 regions worldwide, NewEdge is the world’s largest, and highest-performing security private cloud. NewEdge powers the real-time, inline security services of the Netskope SASE platform allowing security to be deployed at the edge where and when it’s needed.

Placing data-centric security as close to the user as possible is a key requirement of a SASE-ready architecture, and the delivery of world-class Security Service Edge (SSE) and software defined networking (SD-WAN) capabilities. As well as improving the experience for Netskope’s local customers, the new data centre in Dublin is a strategic investment for the company given Ireland’s unique position in the data landscape with access to the EU market and close proximity to trans-atlantic internet cables. With companies increasingly demanding choice over where and how their data is processed, having a presence in Ireland gives Netskope’s NewEdge network a strong competitive advantage.

Netskope customer Adam Hoffmann, IT Infrastructure Manager at Mercury Engineering, based in Dublin commented; “We chose Netskope over a year ago to secure both web and cloud applications for our pan-European workforce. They were very clear about the intentions and timelines for the addition of local infrastructure in Ireland and now they have delivered on that promise. Netskope was already improving the experience of our teams, and when the local Dublin data centre came on line it immediately added even further to that improvement for our 1,000+ employees based in Ireland.”

Brian Murray, who leads Netskope’s business in Ireland said; “Its geographical and political location is making Ireland a key strategic jurisdiction for the tech industry and with the opening of this data centre in Dublin, Netskope is well placed to deliver the best in class SASE solution for new and existing customers in the region. Robust SASE solutions backed by local data centres are important for all organisations that require clear oversight over their data, wherever it goes, in order to meet stringent data policies both inside and outside the EU.”    

To support the new data centre, Netskope is actively recruiting in Ireland for both Irish and flexible pan-European roles in engineering, sales, marketing and HR, with the aim of doubling its headcount in the country over the coming year. The new centre coincides with the expansion of Netskope’s Irish customer base, which already includes major customers in the manufacturing, pharmaceutical and retail sectors.

Netskope’s NewEdge architecture ensures there are no performance trade-offs when implementing security features.  A crucial part of the infrastructure that underpins a SASE security and networking architecture, balancing security and user experience reduces the risk of users working around security controls, productivity being negatively affected, or business processes being slowed down or impeded.

Every NewEdge data center is extensively peered with the most commonly used web/content-delivery networks, cloud, and SaaS providers to deliver fast, optimised access to the content, apps, and data enterprises most care about. For example, every NewEdge data center is directly connected with Microsoft and Google, plus other peering relationships in key regions with Amazon, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Box, and Dropbox, among many others.

As the infrastructure underpinning the Netskope Security Cloud, NewEdge delivers real-time inline and out-of-band API-driven services spanning Cloud Firewall (FWaaS), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Cloud and SaaS Security Posture Management (CSPM/SSPM), Borderless SD-WAN and more.

To learn more about Netskope’s NewEdge, visit https://www.netskope.com/platform/newedge.

SSE Airtricity launches nationwide EV charging network

SSE Airtricity has today announced plans to develop a nationwide EV charging network.

The initiative will see SSE invest €35m to install 30 ultra-rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs across Ireland over the next four years, all of which will be powered by 100% green electricity from SSE Airtricity.

As part of the EV infrastructure rollout, it has been confirmed that the first hub will open at the Lough Sheever Corporate Park in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath next year. The site will be publicly accessible and designed to accommodate long-wheelbase vehicles and buses, as well as cars and fleet vehicles.

As part of Phase One of the project in 2023, and subject to planning permission, additional hubs with 10 charging bays will be installed in Blanchardstown Business Park and Greenogue Industrial Estate in Dublin.

It is expected that a total of six sites will be operational by the end of 2023, with a further 10 coming online in 2024. Each ultra-rapid bay will have charging capabilities of up to 150 kilowatts (kW), sufficient to deliver 12.5 kms of range per minute of charging.

The announcement follows the Electric Vehicle Summit 2022 at the RDS in Dublin this week, where SSE Airtricity was a headline sponsor.

Kevin Welstead, EV Director Sector SSE, said: “At SSE, we have extensive experience in the development and rollout of EV charging infrastructure. From our network in the UK, we understand that when it comes to charging people just want to be back on the move on in the shortest amount of time possible.

“We’re delighted to launch our first EV charging hubs in Ireland, and we’re really excited about the network we are going to develop over the coming years. In building out this infrastructure, we want to ensure peace of mind for all EV drivers – domestic, car fleet, commercial – that when they show up at one of our facilities, they can plug in to a working, high power charger as soon as they arrive, and that they can be back on the move within the shortest amount of time possible.”

Klair Neenan, Managing Director SSE Airtricity, said: “SSE Airtricity has a long-standing commitment of delivering green energy and green energy solutions to our customers, and we’re delighted to take that a step further with the announcement of the SSE Airtricity EV charging hubs.

“With COP27 underway in Egypt, today’s announcement is fitting as we renew our commitment to supporting Ireland’s climate change targets and support Government’s Climate Action Plan and EV transport targets.”  

SSE has committed to installing 300 ultra-rapid charging hubs powered by traceable, renewable energy across Ireland and the UK over the next five years. The very first hub, on Castlebank Street in Glasgow, went live at the end of September.

A 2021 study by the UK’s Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology found that Ireland ranked joint-last in terms of implementing charging infrastructure. The Government’s 2021 Climate Action Plan has set a target of one million EVs on the roads by 2030, including private cars, heavy goods vehicles, small public service vehicles, and larger public transport vehicles.

Figures released last month by the UK’s Department for Transport revealed that Northern Ireland has the lowest level of charging device provision in the UK (18 devices per 100,000).

In addition to announcing this nationwide infrastructure across Ireland, SSE has also just completed a deal with pan-European portfolio company, M7 Real Estate, to install charging hubs at the 20 locations the company manages in the United Kingdom.