Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, held its Innovation Summit on 20th October in Johnstown Estate, Ireland.
Chris Collins, Country President Schneider Electric Ireland, kicked off the day by welcoming the customers that had travelled from all over the country to the event which would focus on how a more resilient and sustainable future could be built together.
“The UK & Ireland, like much of the rest of the world, is currently amid a very real energy crisis, that impacts us all in our business and in our homes,” said Chris Collins. “2022 has been at year where our net zero ambitions have been met by unprecedented disruptions… We have seen increases to wholesale gas prices more than 700% over the last 12 months and 200% from June to September 2022.” He discussed Irish homeowners who can expect to face some of the highest energy bills on record this winter. Collins then went on to reveal the findings of the research completed by Schneider Electric in his keynote, which demonstrated that homeowners are ready to make positive changes to lower their home energy consumption. Some of these findings included:
- Installing solar panels is a top priority for two-fifths of homeowners.
- Over three-quarters of homeowners acknowledge retrofitting homes is one way to reduce energy bills.
- Energy crisis encouraging more homeowners to purchase an Electric Vehicle.
- 94% of homeowners are – not surprisingly – concerned about rising energy costs.
- 7 in 10 Irish homeowners worried about being able to heat homes this winter.
- Three in five don’t know where to start when it comes to retrofitting homes.
Following the keynote address, Collins hosted a panel discussion with industry leaders about how companies in Ireland are trying to achieve net zero featuring Garry Connolly Founder at Host In Ireland, Siobhán McHugh CEO at Demand Response Association of Ireland, Noel Cunniffe CEO at Wind Energy Ireland and Industry Expert Maurice Mortell.
Other key topics covered during the day included “Powering the New Electric World”, “Buildings of the Future” and an enlightening panel discussion on “The Evolving Landscape of Electric Vehicles in Ireland” featuring guest speakers Aoife O’Grady Head of Zero Emissions Vehicles Ireland, Florent Ojardias Head of Fleet Sales & Mobility Solutions at Renault Ireland, Derek Reilly General Manager at Nevo.ie and Darren Kinsella CEO and Founder at Darkin EV.
All sessions of the day are now available to view on-demand on the Schneider Electric website:
