Preparing to lead next wave of disruptive technologies

From the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric scheme in the 1920s to rural electrification a few decades later and to the groundbreaking work of ESB International around the world the ESB has been one of Ireland's most innovative companies throughout its entire existence.

But the public perception of the organisation tends to be limited to its role as a generator and distributor of electricity. This is perhaps due to the fact that ESB has tended not to promote or brand its innovative activities up until now.

This has now changed with the establishment of ESB Innovation under the leadership of John McSweeney. “As a result of a number of developments both from within and without ESB, it was decided to set up the Innovation Division,” McSweeney explains.

The new division encompasses a range of what were seen as non-core activities including ESB International, E-cars, telecommunications, and emerging technologies. And there are exciting developments happening in all of these areas.

“We are rolling out charge points across the country for e-cars,” says McSweeney. “And we are close to entering a joint venture agreement with a major telecommunications provider to roll out fibre to homes throughout the country using our medium and low voltage distribution networks. We are able to do this because of the huge investment we made in network renewal in recent years.

“Our network is now so good we can add the weight of fibre to it with no difficulty. This could be the most exciting project in the country since rural electrification. This is rural fibrication and we hope to launch it early next year.”

This is by no means the only collaborative effort the division is involved in. "We are looking at collaborations with organisations like IBM, Intel, and the Dublin Airport Authority in ways we never did before. "They are looking at using the ESB network as a test bed for new products and services which are in development at the moment. We are also involved in EU funded programmes and are helping companies like Intune Networks develop new smart grid technologies."

Electric vehicles
The joint project between ESB and IBM will see the development of a cloud-based electric vehicle (EV) IT platform. This project will facilitate electric vehicle users with an integrated and seamless user experience when plugging into charging-points anywhere in Ireland.

The IBM Intelligent Electric Vehicle (EV) Enablement Platform is a cloud delivered service which adds a layer of intelligence and convenience to the electric vehicle recharging process, and Ireland is the first country to implement such an integrated platform. The system accommodates the needs of all e-car owners, enabling them to recharge anywhere at any time regardless of their electricity supplier.

Another element of ESB Innovation is the ESB's own venture capital investment company Novusmodus. Novusmodus was established by ESB in 2009 and manages a €200 million clean-tech venture capital fund.

The fund has invested in Irish companies such as Nualight, a LED lighting specialist, and Intune Networks. It also led a £5 million funding round in Heliex Power, a spin-out from City University London that is developing technology to generate electrical power using waste steam from industrial processes.

“Novus Modus is very important as it invests in innovative high tech companies and it keeps us at the leading edge of developments in areas like energy, cleantech and communications.”

Indeed, the cleantech area is one which is vitally important to the future of the ESB. "Every industry has suffered from the advent of disruptive technologies; with the exception of electricity," McSweeney notes. "But that can't last forever. We don't know what the disruptive technology is going to be but we know that it's going to come."

Solar disruptor
And the recent rise of photovoltaic solar energy might be the basis for that disruption.

"Up until recently it was thought that photovoltaic had no future as a technology but now costs have come down and during last summer photovoltaic generated so much power in Germany that several combined cycle gas turbine generating plants were shut down."

From a technology roadmap perspective photovoltaic has moved ahead of offshore wind and is catching up with onshore wind.

The local and small scale nature of this technology is at the heart of its disruptive potential.

Instead of having huge generating stations incurring massive power loss between the point of generation and the home owing to the step-downs in voltage there could be hundreds of photovoltaic units generating small amounts of power directly to the low voltage grid with natural and immense consequences for the traditional model of electricity generation and transmission.

“One of our goals is to ensure that ESB is not caught unawares by technological developments. The breakthrough is waiting to happen and even though we are a small utility in a small country we can make a difference.

“Imagine what we could achieve for the Irish economy if we were at the vanguard of new disruptive technology. There is no wind turbine manufacturing here despite our advantages in terms of wind resources. We must make sure that is not the case when it comes to other new energy technologies. But what we need to do first is educate people about what it is possible for us to do. We are trying to engender a culture of innovation here in ESB and I believe we are succeeding in that. The tradition is already there and Ireland can become a leader in the next generation of energy and communications technologies if we succeed.”