ESB appoints Northern Ireland regional manager
In a bid to continue to drive its investment in Northern Ireland, ESB has appointed County Fermanagh man Brian Hegarty to the newly created role of Northern Ireland Regional Manager.
As part of ESB’s drive to reach net zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2040 and support a more sustainable future, the organisation’s investment strategy is focused on its core market of Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Great Britain. As one of Northern Ireland’s largest inward investors, and its largest energy investor, ESB has ambitious plans for further development in the region which has the potential to make an important contribution to Northern Ireland achieving its ambitious climate change targets.
Future investment
ESB has been an active participant in the Northern Ireland electricity market for 25 years. It owns and operates Coolkeeragh Power Station, the 450MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Derry, and, since 2010, it has owned NIE Networks. ESB employs almost 1,500 people in Northern Ireland and over the past 15 years it has invested
£140 million in the development of six onshore wind farms which supply enough clean energy to power approximately 60,000 homes. Coolkeeragh Power Station can supply up to one third of the region’s electricity demand and therefore plays an essential role in the security of energy supply in Northern Ireland.
The organisation has further significant investment plans across a range of renewable technologies and large-scale capital projects in Northern Ireland. These will contribute to ESB’s goal of increasing its renewable generation portfolio on the island from 1GW to 5GW by 2030.
ESB has identified offshore wind, onshore wind, and solar in Northern Ireland as having a significant role to play in achieving this target.
The business has also been very active in investigating green hydrogen production projects with the objective of developing energy clusters.
“There is real scope for more onshore wind, solar and offshore wind provided policy and appropriate support schemes are put in place.”
Brian Hegarty, Northern Ireland Regional Manager, ESB
Green hydrogen complements renewables as it can be produced at times of high renewables generation, then stored, and then utilised to produce electricity when renewables are less abundant. With the right accompanying storage infrastructure, green hydrogen can bring even more energy security to Northern Ireland. ESB is actively looking at how it might develop a green hydrogen cluster at various locations, and Coolkeeragh Power Station offers many of the attributes which have made these types of clusters successful elsewhere. This includes access to potentially large volumes of offshore renewables, excellent transport links (port, airport, train, and roads), and one of Northern Ireland’s largest industrial areas being located adjacent to the power station.
New Northern Ireland Regional Manager
To support the delivery of these ambitions, ESB has recently appointed a Northern Ireland Regional Manager. Brian Hegarty will assume the newly created role in November 2024.
Speaking about his appointment, Hegarty says: “I am delighted to take up the role as Northern Ireland Regional Manager. ESB has set ambitious 2030 and 2040 targets and, as a Fermanagh man, I am looking forward to overseeing the delivery of some of this capacity in Northern Ireland, supporting the drive to a net zero future.
“We have seen great progress in recent times in Northern Ireland, particularly with the publication of the Department for the Economy’s Energy Strategy Action Plan, which has key actions that will accelerate the development and delivery of renewable energy.”
Ten years ago, Northern Ireland led the way in renewables across these islands, but volume growth has slowed very significantly since the closure of the NIRO in 2017. However, ESB does now see a path forward once more.
“We see opportunity and real potential to grow our business here. Despite the pace having eased off in recent years, Northern Ireland continues to perform well on the adoption of renewables, and it is proof that when you get the basics right – land, grid, and the right support schemes – real progress is possible,” adds Hegarty. “ESB believes there is real scope for more onshore wind, solar, and offshore wind provided policy and appropriate support schemes are put in place.”
Having joined ESB in 2014 as a Renewables Project Director, working on projects in Northern Ireland and Scotland predominately, Hegarty has held various roles across the organisation in onshore and offshore wind and solar. The Fermanagh man is also no stranger to the energy sector in Northern Ireland having previously chaired the Planning sub-committee of the Northern Ireland Renewables Industry Group, now RenewableNI, and he currently sits on RenewableNI’s Offshore Group, as well as the Northern Ireland Maritime and Offshore (NIMO) Group.
Contact:
W: www.esb.ie
