Tánaiste visits home in Dundalk receiving free hot water from EnergyCloud

As part of his visit to Dundalk last week, Tánaiste Micheál Martin met with Obiajuiu Okasi, a Clúid Housing resident, who receives free hot water, thanks to EnergyCloud’s innovative use of renewable energy that would otherwise have gone to waste.

Ms Okasi’s home is part of a collaboration between not-for-profit, EnergyCloud, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), that will enable families in 1,000 Clúid Housing homes to receive free tanks of hot water via an EnergyCloud smart device.

The device uses surplus renewable energy, which would otherwise be wasted, to heat immersion tanks. 250 installations have already been completed in Clúid properties around the country.

Tánaiste, Micheál Martin TD, said:“Innovative use of renewable energy like we’ve seen today is a simple, practical support for families in meeting energy costs, while also reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and reducing waste from generated energy that would otherwise be lost.”

An Tánaiste added, “This project between EnergyCloud and Amazon Web Services is a perfect example of the type of collaboration we can harness to meet our climate targets.”

Obiajuiu Okasi, a Clúid Housing resident who is participating in the EnergyCloud programme, said: “It is such a wonderful feeling to wake up to a text from EnergyCloud to say I have received a free tank of hot water.

“The increased price of food and energy has made things very difficult, so now when I see on the weather forecast that it’s going to be windy overnight a think ‘great, that means a free tank of hot water for me.”

Laura McDonnell, Head of Communications and Policy at Clúid Housing, commented: “Clúid is working in a number of ways to reduce energy bills for our residents, such as our ongoing retrofitting programme, which will bring our existing homes up to an average B2 BER rating.

“We were really excited to get involved with EnergyCloud, as this project provides an immediate benefit to our residents. After the success of the initial pilot, we are eager to roll this programme out to all 10,000 of our homes, to lift even more families out of fuel poverty and make good use of surplus renewable energy.”

Derek Roddy, co-founder of EnergyCloud added: “EnergyCloud started with an idea that surplus renewable energy could and should be used to help those who need it most.

“It is therefore wonderful to meet Ms Okasi and hear her talk about her experience of EnergyCloud. For example, two weeks ago (20th - 27 March) there was enough surplus wind energy to heat 11.1 million water tanks.

“That energy was wasted, but we’ve shown that EnergyCloud has to potential to be scaled up to ensure that in the future that energy will be used to provide free hot water to low-income households.”

He continued: “We are delighted that PrepayPower has come on-board with EnergyCloud, with the first customers receiving their energy credits from the use of surplus renewable energy last week.

“PrepayPower is one of the biggest energy suppliers for social housing residents, so this partnership will allow us to support even more people at risk of fuel poverty.

“EnergyCloud were delighted that Tracy Tuffin, Head of Residential Business Sales with PrepayPower was able to meet with Ms Okasi in her home with An Tánaiste Micheál Martin TD and to hear directly from her about how easy the EnergyCloud system works.”