ESB Networks Is This a Good Time

What is this exactly?

ESB Networks has introduced a program that notifies you of the best and worst times to use electricity. By participating, you can earn rewards while saving money and helping to reduce Ireland's CO² emissions.

It can make a big difference if we adjust the timing of our electricity usage. Just moving a load of washing back or forwards by a few hours can make a surprising difference both to the cost of generation, and the CO² footprint.

ESB Networks will send you a text message whenever there are energy events — periods of high demand with limited supply, or periods of excess renewables that risk going to waste. If you can make any adjustments to your usage, you get rewarded. This helps ESB Networks balance demand and contributes to reducing Ireland's overall CO² footprint.

Myself personally, I signed up about a year ago, so wanted to share my experiences of it with you. But if you are already sold on the idea and want to sign up yourself, you can jump straight to the ESB Networks site here , where you can find out more and sign up.

What are "Energy Events"?

There are two types of ESB "Energy Events":

1. Peak Events

This is where there's high demand with limited supply. Generally it's in the normal peak time of 5pm – 7pm. These are often times where there's very little renewable generation. This means almost all the electricity supplied then would be fossil fuel based. Any changes we can make to reduce consumption in this time period will help reduce our consumption of the most CO²-intensive electricity.

2. Flexibility Events

These can be both ways — sometimes it's a time to avoid, other times it's a good time to use electricity.

Most commonly this is when there's excess renewable energy on the grid, and there's a chance it'll go to waste. So, if you can move some consumption into this time period (e.g. putting on a load of washing then), you'll be using the greenest electricity possible. Typically, these happen on a windy weekend, where general consumption is lower than normal, but there's plenty of renewable generation online.

Sometimes it's the other way — where there's a period of particularly low renewable generation on the grid, so if it's possible to delay any heavy usage until after that period, that'll reduce the amount of fossil fuel generators they have to use to fill the gap.

How often do Energy Events occur?

In my experience (based in County Cork), there's about one Energy Event per month. Peak events are by far the most common — I've only had 1 or 2 "Flexibility Events" in the past year.

Energy events are area-by-area. You'll receive a text to tell you when there's an energy event for your location

Setting up for an Energy Event

Firstly, you are only signing up to receive the text messages, you are not in any way committed to having to take any actions when you get the text — participation in any energy event is entirely optional. Sometimes it suits to take an action, and sometimes not, and that's all okay.

It's not about reducing your electricity usage overall, it's about adjusting the timings of when you use it.

Your main options are things like dishwasher, washing machine, and tumble dryer. These are also some of the more power-hungry devices in most homes, so they have a significant effect.

For example, if there's a peak event from 5pm – 7pm, what they are looking for is us to wait until after 7pm before pressing go on any of those devices. Equally, if there's a flexibility event, when there's excess renewable generation, then that's a good time to put a laundry wash on.

One suggestion is the timing of when you use an electric oven. Using the hob or microwave uses less power, so they could be worth considering during the peak event.

Top tip: You don't have to wait to hear about the more extreme events. You can also get real-time data to plan your own usage based on forecasts from sites such as Eirgrid website .

For example, you can plan your washing time or when to charge your electric vehicle based on the amount of wind that's forecast. Not enough wind forecast this evening, but there is in the morning? You can shift usage accordingly.

You can find similar real-time data and forecasting on the Smart Grid Dashboard here .

Timeline of an Energy Event

In my experience, you'll get a text maybe 8 hours before the energy event. Each energy event is typically a 2–3 hours long.

Then, a few days later, there'll email you a little survey. There you tick a box to say if you took an action, and that's it (in all, it's about 2 or 3 clicks).

How do I get rewarded?

From time to time, ESB Networks will send you a gift card. For me so far, it's always been a "Prezzee" gift card. You log onto their site, then you can convert that gift card to one of countless different types of store gift cards including the likes of Lidl, Dunnes Stores, Apple and Halfords.

I'm not sure how they were calculating the value, but I've had four €5 vouchers so far this year. I did get a message though saying they are changing it and from now on it will be €3 per energy event I participate in.

How does this reduce CO²?

Generally speaking, renewable electricity generation is the cheapest to operate once it's built, so that will always be turned on and generating where conditions allow, with the output being dependent on how sunny/windy/ wet the weather has been.

Then, fossil fuel generation (mostly gas, but also some coal) will make up the rest.

In times of great renewable conditions — typically a windy and sunny day, then the majority of generation on the grid will be renewable, and so any electricity used has a low carbon footprint. This is especially true when it coincides with low demand periods. Equally, in times of poor renewable conditions — typically a dark winter day with no wind — then almost all the generation comes from fossil fuels, so the carbon footprint of each unit then is much higher.

Is the difference in CO² footprint significant?

Yes. It's common for the CO² intensity of a unit of electricity to change by a factor of 4 or more in a short space of time. So, that load of washing you were planning on doing could have a quarter of the carbon footprint depending on when you press go on the machine.

How do I find out more or sign up?

You can find out more on the ESB Networks site here , and you can find their sign-up link here .

How can I find out more about the CO² intensity of electricity?

Eirgrid have both live and historical data on their website. For those of a more eco-nerd inclination (like myself), it's a fascinating treasure trove of information.

For example, a unit of electricity at 9am on 24th Nov would have a footprint of 76g of CO².

That same unit at 9am on 26th Nov had a footprint of 329g of CO² — a factor difference of over 4 times higher.

For more information on all things CO² Intensity, you can nerd out on the Eirgrid website here .