Galway-based passive house specialists Scandinavian Homes has just completed their 51st Irish project to the passive house standard, at Spiddal, Co Galway. The company's Lars Pettersson told Passive House Plus magazine that there's never been a more cost-effective time to build a passive house. 

Renewable energy in Ireland grew by an average of 15% per annum from 2005 to 2009 driven largely by a significant growth in wind energy of 28% per annum in that period, according to SEAI's latest Energy in Ireland report. Last year also witnessed a steady trend towards lower energy prices in Ireland for both domestic and business energy users.

Energy minister Eamon Ryan has said that formal preparations for a European electricity supergrid have begun.
 
In Brussels today, energy ministers from ten European countries signed an agreement on the North Seas Countries Offshore Grid Initiative, which will aim to develop a supergrid in northern Europe, increase the amount of renewable energy produced in the Europe's northern seas and facilitate large scale offshore wind projects.

Energy Minister Eamon Ryan today announced new funding for renewable energy companies in Ireland.
 
The funding is part of a Europe-wide programme that will be managed jointly by the European Commission, European Investment Bank and EU member states. It will assist eight carbon capture and storage and 34 renewable energy projects in the EU.

Energy minister Eamon Ryan launched the new BE (Bachelor of Engineering) programme in energy systems engineering on Monday in NUI Galway.
 
The new course, which will be based in the new engineering building currently under construction on the campus, has been developed in partnership with members of the energy industry including ESB, GE Energy, Airtricity, Bord Gáis and Wavebob.

Ten Irish companies developing ocean energy technologies will share e4.3millon in funding from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), the national energy authority announced yesterday.

The funding is aimed at enabling the companies to take their proposals and prototypes to the next stage of development.

Ireland now ranks fourth in the world for the contribution of wind energy to electricity use, according to the International Energy Agency's 2008 Wind Energy Annual Report.

Ireland, which supplies 8.7% of electricity demand from wind, is only behind Denmark (19.3%), Spain (11.7%) and Portugal (11.3%).

ELECTRICITY COMPANY Airtricity has been ordered not to use the term “green electricity” in its advertising, following a complaint by An Bord Gáis to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI).

Imperative Energy,  a supplier of large-scale biomass energy solutions, today announced that it has completed a E30m equity funding package with Rockfield Energy LLP, a UK-based private equity firm specialising in renewable energy investments.

Green energy overtook fossil fuels in attracting investment for power generation for the first time last year, according to figures released today by the United Nations.

A wind energy development co-operative in County Clare today announced plans to construct one of Ireland’s largest wind farms.

Subsequent to obtaining planning approval and permission for grid connection, West Clare Renewable Energy Ltd. (WCRE) says it hopes to construct 30 3MW wind turbines on the slopes of Mount Callan, a 391-metre high mountain located between Ennis and Miltown Malbay.

Wind Energy Direct, an Irish owned renewable energy company, today launched an innovative wind energy installation that will deliver power directly to the Munster Joinery plant in Ballydesmond, Co Cork.

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology has launched a new degree programme in energy engineering, commencing in September 2009 at the institute’s Dublin Road campus.

Micro and mini hydropower generation in Ireland can at least double from its current total contribution to the energy supply of the country to more than 60MW.

Velux is calling for Irish homeowners to take positive steps to improve the energy efficiency of their own homes. The company’s sustainable department is planning to raise awareness of renewable technologies though an information-led campaign at Ireland’s largest consumer-facing exhibitions throughout 2009.
 

Kingspan Solar, part of Kingspan Renewables Ltd, has launched its all-Ireland solar accreditation scheme.

 Barack Obama today declared the billions of dollars he is planning to spend on renewable energy projects off-limits to the usual bartering over the next few weeks with Congress.

European countries could transform their electricity supplies within a decade by investing in a giant network of solar panels in the Sahara desert, an expert told a global warming conference in Copenhagen today.

The Commissioner for Energy Regulation has announced that the ESB is to buy electricity from so-called “micro generators” - householders who have their own wind generators or other renewable electricity systems. The price has been set at 9c per unit.

More wind power was installed in the EU than any other electricity-generating technology in 2008, according to data released yesterday.