Glen Dimplex open new Irish R&D facility

Here's more info from last Friday on the launch and the facility itself from Glen Dimplex: 

An Taoiseach Mr Enda Kenny today opened one of the world’s most advanced research and development facilities for space and water heating technologies at the Glen Dimplex site in Dunleer, Co Louth.
 
The facility is part of a €40 million investment programme by Glen Dimplex in renewable energy technologies at its operations in Ireland.  Currently employing 50 research and development engineers, the number employed at the new facility will increase to 75 in the near term.  World leading renewable heating technologies which facilitate real time demand response and management solutions for the electricity industry worldwide will be developed at the facility.
 
The world is rapidly moving towards a decarbonised electricity system driven by wind and solar PV generated electricity. As a consequence, the electricity industry worldwide is entering a transformational period of change.  Glen Dimplex has positioned itself as a provider of renewable electric heating solutions for this rapidly changing electricity environment.
 
Recent renewable technologies launched by Glen Dimplex include :

• The Quantum space and water heating system that results in a 27% saving in running costs when compared with traditional night storage heaters.  
• The A class air source high temperature heat pump which is a direct replacement for oil heating systems and can reduce annual energy costs for homes by up to €1,000.  

The target market for these technologies is as a direct replacement for oil central heating systems which currently account for 50% of the heating systems in Irish homes. The installation of these renewable heating technologies have the capacity to deliver not only significant energy savings for home owners but also the creation of thousands of jobs across the economy.

Glen Dimplex is currently collaborating on a major research and development project for smart grid enabling renewable energy technologies with partners Intel, EirGrid, ESB Networks, SSE / Airtricity and the Energy Institute at UCD.  The project is called Enernet Ireland.

 The key objectives of Enernet Ireland are:

• To develop and demonstrate technologies to remotely manage an aggregated population of homes with smart electric thermal storage (Sets) systems.
• To evaluate the business case for deployment of such an asset base. This will involve identifying and evaluating all relevant value streams associated with distributed, aggregated Sets systems.
• To showcase this exemplar technology in Ireland with a view to realising future export opportunities worldwide.
• To demonstrate potential economic benefits for Ireland in relation to job creation, fossil fuel substitution and the utilisation of renewable energy on the Irish electricity system.

Glen Dimplex president Martin Naughton said: “Dunleer has been the centre of the electrical appliance industry in Ireland long before any of us were born. I am delighted that we continue to make world leading appliances in Dunleer’.

Sean O’Driscoll, chairman and chief executive officer of Glen Dimplex said: “The world’s energy sector is where the telecommunications and IT Industries were 25 years ago  — at the beginning of a transformational journey.  All future energy scenarios anticipate increased renewables and increased usage of electricity for heating.  Our commitment to innovation in renewable electric heating technologies will be one of the catalysts to bring about this transformational change.”