Agenda and minutes

            An apology for inability to attend was reported from Councillor Brennan.

            The minutes of the meeting of 16th January, 2025 were taken as read and signed as correct. It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 3rd February, 2025.

            No declarations of interest were recorded.

Developing the grid to meet future electricity demand in Belfast to support increased electrification of transport and heating as well as increased renewable generation.

·       Gerard Carlin, Director of Networks and Innovation;

·       Ronan Davison-Kernan, Senior Engineer; and

·       Joseph Fullwood, Project Manager.

            The Chairperson welcomed Mr. G. Carlin, Director of Networks and Innovation, Mr. R. Davison-Kernan, Senior Engineer, and Mr. J, Fullwood, Project Manager, all SONI, to the meeting.

            Mr. Carlin explained that SONI was Northern Ireland's electricity Transmission System Operator and that it was responsible for the safe, secure supply of electricity in Northern Ireland.  From its control centre in Belfast, it ensured that power flowed from where it was generated to where it was needed. 

            Together, the representatives from SONI outlined that, as SONI enhanced the electricity grid, it was leading the way for a more secure and sustainable energy future.  The Committee was advised that SONI also operated the all-island wholesale electricity market through the Single Electricity Market. 

            The Committee was presented with an overview of “Energising Belfast”, to deliver a cleaner and more secure energy future for the City.  They outlined plans to upgrade the electricity distribution network around Belfast by 2050?, which would require an estimated £117million of potential investment.

            The Members were advised that the project would provide the capacity for the additional demand created by the expected increases in electric vehicles and heat pumps.  It would also support future investment in housing and job creation by facilitating the Belfast Agenda targets of the city being home to 66,000 more people and 46,000 additional jobs by 2035.

            In response to a Member’s question regarding hydrogen as an alternative to electric vehicles, Mr. Carlin confirmed that SONI was agnostic to the technology but that it modelled future demand and anticipated a significant increase over the next 15 years.  Mr. Davison-Kernan added that, although hydrogen was an alternative fuel for larger vehicles, the production of green hydrogen also involved large amounts of electricity.

            A number of Members asked questions regarding the locations of the new substations.  The representatives from SONI explained that the route would form the second phase of the project.  The Committee was also advised that SONI had a dedicated landowner engagement team and that the route would be subject to statutory consultation.

            In regards to a Member’s question about funding for the project, the representatives explained that they would apply, via the Utility Regulator, to ensure that the project was value for money.                            

            The Chairperson thanked the representatives for their presentation and they retired from the meeting.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To provide an update on progress by the Belfast Retrofit Delivery Hub.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       The Committee is asked to note:

i.       Progress made in delivering retrofit training and information sharing including a Galway City Retrofit Twinning Visit to Belfast.

ii.      Efforts to progress an area based cross tenure retrofit project, exploring procurement mechanisms to attain economies of scale and optimising access to funding and community support.

iii.    That two significant retrofit programmes are under development including a NIHE £14M programme of deep retrofit to 400 homes in NI with 120 in the Belfast City Council area by NIHE and a proposed NIFHA scheme for the shallow retrofit programme of around 4,000 homes.

iv.    The findings from a survey of two properties in Belfast that estimates significant costs associated with retrofitting solid wall properties.

v.      The challenges posed to retrofit in terms of the supply chain of construction materials and skills gaps in the required sectors.

vi.    The challenges and opportunities around a proposed low carbon heating grant and potential implications of a future Minimum Energy Efficiency Scheme.

3.0       Hub Update

            Progress on the work of Belfast Retrofit Delivery Hub was last reported to this committee in August 2024. Since then, a significant amount of collaborative work has taken place under the Hub’s remit to share information, and work to engender action and progress. Work over the last five months can be divided into 5 themes:

·        Skills gaps and supply chains

·        Partnership retrofit programmes

·        Data building

·        Information sharing

·        Cross tenure area based retrofit pilot project

3.1       Skills gaps and supply chains

            Discussions through Belfast’s retrofit twinning project (Euro Cities programme) between Belfast and Galway City Councils highlighted that large scale, government funding packages for home retrofit on their own do not deliver progress, noting lengthy backlogs in delivery of funded works. This has been caused by shortages in skilled workers and materials, partly due to major retrofit programmes in GB competing and effectively ‘poaching’ resources from each other and from Ireland. A round table on-line event was held with Retrofit Hub members and stakeholders from Galway to explore the issues and hear of research into the construction skills gap in the Republic of Ireland. One of the Hub’s co-chairs (from CITB) recently convened a Green Skills Working Group of behalf of Department for Energy with a report due for publication shortly.

3.2       Delivery of the priority projects from the LAEP such as low carbon district heating, solar PV installations and retrofit will generate significant demand for construction and specialist skills and materials. This has prompted work by the Climate Team to work with Economic Development to assess market readiness in terms of skills and supply chains in order to identify any gaps and capacity building required.

3.3       Retrofit Programmes currently under development

            The NI Housing Executive (NIHE) and the NI Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA) collectively represent all social housing in NI with both  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

            The information contained in the report associated with the following item was restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

      Resolved – That the Committee agrees to exclude the members of the press and public from the meeting during discussion of the following item as, due to the nature of the item, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            Members were also reminded that the content of ‘restricted’ reports and any discussion which took place during closed session must be treated as ‘confidential information’ and that no such information should be disclosed to the public as per Paragraph 4.15 of the Code of Conduct.  

            The Director of City and Organisational Strategy provided the Committee with an update on the implementation of the LEV strategy.

            He outlined the background to the strategy and explained that it comprised a pragmatic and sequenced approach to bringing the work forward, with the initial phase focusing on how the Council would maximise the use of its land assets across the city to bring forward necessary Electric Vehicle infrastructure.

            The Members were advised of the progress which had been made to date, including the establishment of a cross-departmental Working Group. 

            During discussion, the Director confirmed that engagement with the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) and Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) was ongoing and that it was his intention to bring a list of proposed sites to the Area Working Groups.

            During discussion, the Project Support Officer (Climate) informed the Committee that officers had received helpful procurement advice from Cenex regarding maintenance, availability and what apps to use.  Cenex was a not-for-profit organisation that provided independent, expert advice and services to Local Authorities and other organisations.

            A number of Members asked the Director for further clarification in regards to the type of chargers which would be provided and issues with faulty or broken chargers.

            In response to a further Member’s question, the Director agreed to ensure that the EV spaces within the City Hall would be clearly marked.

After discussion, the Committee noted:

·        that a cross departmental LEV Task and Finish Working Group had been established, and was currently progressing Step 1 of Operationalising the Strategy - Land Assets Assessment (Council sites).

·        that the ‘EV charging point network’ project had been added to the Capital Programme as a Stage 1 Emerging Project, and had been ratified by the Council. As part of project development, the EV charging point network delivery timelines and costs would be developed.

·        the indicative timescales and noted that timescales were dependent on Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) processes; and

·        that the Council had been approached by Cenex to host an EVI Roadshow event at the City Hall in May 2025 (date TBC).