Iarnród Éireann has signed a €2.4 million deal with Irish energy supplier Vayu to provide natural gas for heating in its buildings across the rail network.
Iarnród Éireann which claims a 50 per cent reduction in gas usage in its buildings since 2010, said its overall energy conservation programme is saving the company €22 million a year.
Overall – counting buildings and trains – Iarnród Éireann said it has reduced its energy usage by about 36 per cent since 2006, through measures such as energy efficiency, insulation and automatic shut down of engines on idling trains, among other measures.
The latest deal with Vayu Energy will including heating for 13 key sites across Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny, Louth, Laois and Waterford. The deal covers heating for staff and some 38 million passengers a year which use the network.
Iarnród Éireann said a critical consideration in the new deal is direct access to wholesale market prices for natural gas. As part of a fully managed service, Vayu will provide Iarnród Éireann with tailored procurement tools to monitor and manage energy demand, risk and performance in real time.
Stephen Behan of Vayu said energy cost was one of the largest components for Iarnród Éireann and all Irish businesses,but it was an area where significant efficiencies can be achieved in terms of procurement and management.
Vayu currently supplies gas to more than 20 per cent of Ireland’s industrial and commercial market.
Mr Behan said technology has “an enormously important role to play as a positive disruptive force in the Irish energy sector by putting businesses in the driving seat and allowing them to take full control of their energy decisions”.
