Bord Gáis has signed a €1.8 million deal with Ceres Power Holdings relating to residential combined heat and power products for the Irish market, it was announced today.
The deal with UK-based Ceres Power is to provide small scale combined heat and power (Micro-CHP) products to the residential market. These Micro-CHP products are based on fuel cell technology and operate on natural gas.
Development and trialling of the products in Ireland and the North is expected to start in 2010 with a full market roll out in 2012.
CHP, or co-generation, is the process of generating both electrical power and heat from a single source. The Micro-CHP units are similar in size to a standard wall-mounted boiler and are fuelled by natural gas with the fuel cell technology that generates electricity for use in the home.
The waste heat from the electricity generation can be used for central heating and water heating and is, in effect, free energy, according to Bord Gáis.
The deal announced today is the first time Ceres Power has expanded outside of the United Kingdom, where the it already has programmes provide Micro-CHP products with British Gas and Calor.
The companies are seeking to make Micro-CHP as the low-carbon residential energy system of choice for Ireland.
Commenting, John Mullins, chief executive of Bord Gáis, said: “It makes sense to use fuels as efficiently as possible. Micro-CHP uses revolutionary technology that is much more efficient than the current alternative – a combination of heat from a boiler plus power from the mains grid - and will offer customers lower energy costs and reduced carbon emissions.
"This agreement clearly positions Bord Gáis as an energy innovator in Ireland and the Ceres Power residential CHP product will help accelerate a transition to a low carbon economy.”