Profile of Company: Lambay Irish Whiskey Company is a partnership between Lambay Estate Company and the French cognac distiller Camus. They two companies formed a partnership in 2018 based around a view to produce Irish whiskey on Lambay Island, initially ageing the product there and then manufacturing part or all of the product there. The company has grown significantly since then and now offers 3 different whiskey types with significant online marketing and presence in duty free and retail premises.

Problem to Be Solved: Lambay Island is not grid connected and sources most of its electrical power from wind and solar installations, with a backup generator. There are batteries associated with this energy system to maintain supply when there is little wind or sun. There is a significant expansion in the island energy system forthcoming where a distillery is to be established on the island and this will have significant impact on the energy required on the island. Furthermore, the company wishes the island to be as renewable as possible.

How Gateway Delivered Solution for Industry: CREDIT Technology Gateway research staff undertook an energy appraisal of the current loads and forecast future loads and possible energy supplies including a battery storage system. This involved installing electricity metering on the island with dedicated broadband connection which was capable of monitoring the electrical flows on the island with high accuracy (5 seconds). This time resolution was required to capture the heat pump and other transient loads on the island and to identify the resource available from the wind turbine (6 kW) and the installed solar PV system (12kW). CREDIT TG worked to identify that the battery system was weakening and that the heat pump system was overloading the batteries and should be turned off as it was causing power outages. The current battery system was put out to competent suppliers to provide a proposal for its replacement.

Impact for the Company: The company have obtained an energy baseline for the island and know the impact that the new distillery will have on the island. They have received an overview of the current renewable capacity which was not known in detail and also the current load profiles. CREDIT TG has built a relationship with the team and will be available for future consulting and have assisted the team in obtaining quotations for the equipment required for expansion of the energy storage facility on the island.