Generate Invites Delegates to ‘Tap into the Grid’

Renewable energy professionals from across Northern Ireland and Ireland gathered this week at the ‘Tap into the Grid’ event, organised by Belfast Met through the business support programme ‘Generate’. The event was held at System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI). SONI works in cooperation with asset owner NIE to develop the grid infrastructure. This is needed to support competition in energy, to promote economic growth and to facilitate renewable energy.

The Generate Programme is part funded by Lisburn City Council, Belfast City Council, Castlereagh Borough Council, Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland. ‘Generate’ provides support and training for employees in small and medium sized businesses (SME’s) in the council areas of Lisburn, Castlereagh and Belfast who are keen to discover progressive opportunities for their company and their employees in emerging markets for wind, marine, bio-energy, smart-grid and energy storage.

Speaking about the event Alderman Allan Ewart, Chairman of Lisburn City Council’s Economic Development, said: “This Smart Grid event was a perfect opportunity for companies to gain an insight into the opportunities that exist for many sectors including ICT, Site and Consumer Levels. Events like this, organised through the ‘Generate’ programme opens doors for companies and places them in front of key decision makers in the industry.”

‘Generate’ participant Mark McGuinness from Olenick Global commented: “The ‘Tap into the Grid’ event provided us with an insight into how the renewable energy sector is expanding on the island of Ireland and how integration with traditional energy sources provides opportunities in various business sectors over the coming years. We are excited as a company to be involved in the Generate programme and look forward to partnering with and providing IT solutions to all energy providers as the market for renewables develops.”

Paul McCormack, Innovation Manager with Belfast Met expressed his thanks to the event speakers: “Eoin Kennedy from EirGrid Group provided a System Services Overview and his colleague Doireann Barry’s presentation offered delegates an insight into Smart Grid Opportunities. I would like to thank them both for taking the time to present and explain to the companies the real opportunities that the Smart Grid holds. I would also like to thank representatives from Invest NI; Sam Knox and Linda Jamison who discussed Smart Grid Values Chains and Collaborative networking. University of Ulster’s Dominic McLarnon updated delegates with the current opportunities available through the Horizon 2020 programme and to close the event delegates had a tour of SONI’s control room giving a visual representation of what had been discussed during the day.”

If you feel your company has the potential to supplement the Renewable Industry Supply Chain and is based in the council areas of Lisburn, Belfast or Castlereagh, Generate wants to hear from you. To register your company apply online at http://www.generateni.com/registration/ or telephone: .

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