THE BUSINESS AGENCY HOSTS CLEANTECH FORUM AT THE FITTING SALMON LAKE CENTRE

On 6^th November, business representatives from the Cleantech sector came together to discuss the challenges, success stories, and opportunities within the Cleantech market.

The Business Agency hosted the afternoon, which was held at the Salmon Lake Centre in Laxey. The centre was bought several years ago by Stewart and Barbara Clague, Directors of Manx building services firm Stewart Clague Services (SCS). They were passionate about making the centre as energy efficient as possible, so they decided to implement renewable technology to achieve this.

With their expertise in building services and renewable energy installation, they were able to make the project a success. Gary Crittenden, Project Director at SCS, gave an overview of the renewable technology in operation at the Salmon Lake Centre, which uses energy from the lake and river. This includes a hydroelectric power generator, an Ossberger turbine, and a 100% carbon neutral heating and cooling system fed from a ground water source heat pump. Overall, this seemed a very fitting location for the Cleantech Forum.

The forum began with Dr Ken Milne, Director of Energy Policy at the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA), giving an insight into how the energy policy initiatives link to climate change. He discussed the importance of decarbonisation of power, transport and buildings and how quickly and effectively we need to move if we are going to achieve targets set.

Paul Bevan, Building Services Engineer for the Department of Infrastructure (DoI), highlighted some of the success stories in housing developments on the island. He recalled that Janet’s Corner Estate redevelopment was one of the first opportunities to introduce Cleantech in public sector housing. It was a success as the houses were proven to run at 50% less than an average house in the UK on energy usage. In addition to this, they proved extremely cost effective for tenants. Another triumph was the Ayre View project in Bride, where air to water heat pumps were installed in houses in place of coal fires. Although both these projects required higher initial investment, in the long term they have provided a good return due to energy efficiency; saving tenant’s money and being environmentally friendly.

George Georgiou of Rushen Eco Energy spoke about their renewable energy project at Ballaman Estate in Port Erin, which recently won The Renewable Project of 2018 in the H&V News awards which covers the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and building services industries. Although the project is extremely complex; careful planning, attention to detail and in-depth understanding of the technology has allowed Rushen Eco Energy to execute it successfully.

The forum also allowed attendees to share their thoughts in a workshop based around developing a Cleantech sector strategy. Kirree Gooberman, Business Development Manager for Exports at Business Isle of Man Agency, commented:

‘The forum was a valuable opportunity for the Business Agency to understand the needs of the Cleantech sector, so that we can support the individual businesses within it as well as the sector as a whole. Through networking and listening to the business leaders in the Cleantech industry, we can work together to build a clear strategy for sector growth which supports Government targets to reduce our carbon emissions, encourages take up of low carbon transport and supports people to make homes and businesses more energy efficient.’

The next Cleantech forum will be held as follows:

Tuesday 29^th January 2-5pm
Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture
Thie Slieau Whallian, Foxdale Road, St John’s, Isle of Man, IM4 3AS