Dr. David Connolly:

If the developer is confident that there will be a pipe at the door when the building is complete, it is a very quick process. The biggest challenge is being able to make that commitment. At the very least, we try to encourage new builds to be district heating-ready and to have the pipe in the basement waiting for the day the pipe outside the door arrives. Using district heating speeds up construction and reduces the cost of the building. There are many fancy words for what district heating is but the basic premise is that it is a heat exchanger. Heat exchangers are very well understood. The technology has been around for hundreds of years. There is nothing complicated. It is very easy for a normal plumber who has worked with oil and gas boilers for the past 40 years to install and maintain them. It is very likely that many plumbers in Ireland have worked with heat exchangers in other parts of their business. For developers, instead of installing an individual heat pump, getting district heating-ready means putting a heat exchanger into every apartment. There are lots of fancy names that the district heating sector uses but effectively it is a heat exchanger. The heat comes up from the basement and goes through the heat exchanger, which moves it into the radiators and the hot water scheme in the house. Because they are tiny they should take up a lot less space so there is more room for people to live in the apartment. Heat exchangers should be relatively low cost to install because they are such a well-known technology and have been around for so long. It should be something an existing mechanical guy or lady is able to install. That is why it should be cheaper and better.

The one big concern, which comes back to that famous old problem, is that the developer needs to be confident that the State will get a pipe to the door at some time horizon that is in line with theirs. If I wanted to supply a local network to ten or 20 local buildings, as soon as I leave private grounds and go onto a public road, in district heating I cannot apply for any kind of right of way to put the pipes in the road. In another sector such as gas, I could apply for the licence. If we can get that confidence with a new build area, there is a very strong case that district heating would be more appealing.

This is a small point but it is very important, maybe in terms of policy. I lived with district heating in Copenhagen. To live with district heating is very enjoyable. I turned on my hot water tap and hot water came out. I closed my hot water tap and hot water stopped. I did not have a boiler to maintain, no emissions, no carbon monoxide alarm or fumes. I just paid per kWh like I do with electricity. From a quality of life perspective, which is often overlooked because it is not necessarily a funding or policy support, it is not like we are asking people to sacrifice anything. District heating has a very high quality of life bonus. With all the caveats that people are getting a fair price with an efficient, low-carbon system, there should be very happy customers at the end of the district heating pipe. I say that from personal experience.