Agenda item

To receive an update on the development of the ‘Flintshire County Energy Plan’ and contribute to the stakeholder engagement.

            In presenting the update the Programme Manager provided information on the first engagement workshop which took place in May 2022 with internal Officers and then referred to the second workshop with ARUP which took place two weeks ago. ARUP were contracted with developing the Local Area Energy Plan and the Programme Manager provided an update which she felt was important for the committee to consider and include any suggestions.

            The slides were attached to the agenda but the Programme Manager highlighted specific slides for consideration and provided detailed information on the following:-

• What was Local Area Energy Planning?
• What is your local energy system?
• Baseline carbon emissions for Flintshire
• Baseline energy use - Sankey Diagram
• Demand breakout – potential strategic options

            Councillor Allan Marshall referred to energy usage in homes and asked if any studies had been undertaken to highlight if it was more efficient for households to have the heating on all the time at a constant temperature rather than using the thermostat as on and off switch.

            In response the Programme Manager confirmed that it had been demonstrated that having the heating on all the time with the thermostat set to a lower temperature was more economical than using it in large bursts of energy to heat an area at specific times of the day. This was the principle adopted with the heat pump system which heated an area to a certain temperature to maintain an equilibrium rather than the dipping and troughing of energy. This was a proven technique used with newer technologies

            Councillor Marshall commented that it was essential that this was publicised to residents and that the proven studies were included as evidence.

            Councillor Roz Mansell asked if this applied to large Flintshire County Council buildings and offices. She reported on meetings that she had attended in Mold and Ewloe where the rooms were very hot. Could a saving be made if the heating was turned down or off during the summer and if changing the heating system had been considered. She felt that this issue was present in council flats too. The Programme Manager agreed to investigate this.

            The Chief Officer (Planning Environment & Economy) confirmed that the heating systems in County Hall and Ewloe had been switched off for a number of months. Controlling temperatures in different areas of County Hall was difficult as all the meeting rooms were located at the front of the building and were hot because of the glass and the fact that they were south facing. There was air conditioning in the rooms but if this was not turned on when people entered the room it did not allow time for the room to cool down, especially if the windows were opened. He did not think it was worth retro fitting anything at County Hall. Referring to Ewloe he confirmed that there were more options in terms of switching off the heating there and agreed to come back to committee on this.

            The Chair asked if an email response could be circulated to members of the committee which was agreed by the Chief Officer.

            Councillor Steve Copple referred to the reinforcement of the electrical network and asked what this entailed. He then moved on to wind farms and asked if the report had considered the quality of the power supply which would be flooded with harmonics. These grew to a point where they damaged sensitive equipment and he sought reassurance that mass wind type power would consider the effect of switch gear, fault ratings and running the system without damaging laptops or computers for example.

            The Programme Manager confirmed that that level of detail would be included in final plan and that the stakeholders who were contributing to the plan included a distribution network officer who was able to advise on the grid capacity across the county. This would enable an understanding of what was needed in the county, how this could be facilitated within the existing infrastructure and where the investment focus was required to meet the demand over the medium to long term. The Stakeholders within the development of the plan would be able to contribute to the finer details.

            Councillor Copple referred to the term finer detail with some of the technologies not in existence yet he asked if it could be highlighted that it was not just the physical capabilities but also the harmonic quality issue.

            Councillor Allan Marshall referred to the network upgrades required to handle the additional power generated by solar panels on houses and provided an example of how the kw capacity would be generated. If the cables were too thin then the voltage would drop but if it was too high then it would take the generation into the other houses outside of their specification. The cables would need to be supplemented or changed to reduce the volt drop across that generation going into the network 

            The Chair felt it was important to note the limits of the council responsibility in this area. This was beyond the council’s powers.

            The Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Economy confirmed that he had attended the workshop and was aware that Councillor Marshall had mentioned geothermal energy and its potential particularly on the North Wales coalfields. This was highlighted and added to the possibilities for energy supply.

            The Chair referred to the timeline and next steps and asked if questions from committee Members could be sent to the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Economy. The Cabinet Member agreed with this approach and said that he would refer any technical questions to the Programme