News

Award Winning GI Companies

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Geoscience Ireland (GI) companies feature prominently in this year’s Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) and Ground Engineering Awards (GE).

Nicholas O Dwyer Consulting Engineers won three ACEI Awards;

Project of the Year ( Cork Main Drainage ). Project Management (Varty Water Supply) and Overseas (Monrovia Water Supply Pipeline, Liberia).

JB Barry won the Civils Award for Ringsend WWTP Upgrade and

TOBIN won the  Innovation category for the Connacht GAA Air Dome.

The GE Awards included   Causeway Geotech (Ground Investigation  Project of the Year) , Arup (Technical Excellence and Rising Star-Fiona Hughes) and Byrne Looby (Editors Award) , while Vertase FLI was shortlisted for Sustainability.

Geoscience is at the heart of many of these award winning projects, providing key data and design for water supplies, water treatment, construction and remediation.

GDG Appoints New Managing Director

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Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions (GDG) , part of the Venterra Group and Geoscience Ireland (GI)  member has appointed Dr Indrasenan Thusyantan as Managing Director. He replaces Dr Paul Doherty who has joined the Venterra Board and remains on the GDG Board an an executive director .

Dr Thusyanthan has extensive onshore and offshore project experience in conceptual to detailed design around the world and holds a first-class degree and PhD from the University of Cambridge. He has successfully delivered major projects in the energy sector, including leading the foundation design of St Brieuc wind farm in Brittany. Dr Thusyanthan is a recipient of the prestigious “John Henry King Medal” and “Bill Curtin Medal” from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) UK.

Prior to joining GDG, Dr Thusyanthan was the Chief Geotechnical Engineer at Atkins, one of the world’s most respected design, engineering, and project management consultancies. He has also held several other key positions, including roles at Saudi Aramco and Acteon in Singapore, as well as lecturing at the University of Cambridge.

Cooperation on Geothermal Energy between European and Kenyan SMEs

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The partners of GEO-ENERGY EUROPE, which include Geoscience Ireland (GI), accompanied by some of their member companies participated in the Kenya Geothermal Congress which took place in Nairobi between 12 and 17 July. Organised by the Geothermal Association of Kenya, the Congress sought to deepen the ties between the Kenyan and the European geothermal energy sectors.

Europe and Kenya face very different energy challenges but share many solutions, among which geothermal is far from the least important. For both regions, geothermal energy has gained in strategic importance in the midst of a global energy price crisis which highlights the relevance of this reliable and domestic energy resource. Cooperation between the Kenyan and the European industry can be an asset to unlock geothermal energy’s potential in the African Rift region, enabled by the highly innovative technologies tested and implemented in the European market and the extensive know-how of the Kenyan industry.

The market visit led to a better understanding of the role of policies and regulatory instruments in spurring geothermal development in Kenya. GeoEnergy Europe welcomes the strong   support from  the Ministry of Energy for partnerships and provision of leadership on policy, paving the way for acceleration of  geothermal in the energy mix.

Joe Mongan, representing Geoscience Ireland (GI), coordinator of the GEO-ENERGY EUROPE meta-cluster presented a technical paper to the Congress on Geothermal resource evaluation in East African Rift Basins using hydrocarbon workflows.

Commenting on the Congress, he said: “The estimated geothermal potential in Kenya is about 10 GW and  just under 10% of this has been developed, in terms of installed capacity. With Kenya soon to reach the “1GW country club” in geothermal installed capacity, we see good opportunities for partnerships between GeoEnergy Europe SME’s and their Kenyan counterparts to share expertise in the application of leading-edge technologies for value creation and the acceleration the geothermal business in Kenya.”

Dario Bonciani, representative of COSVIG-DTE2V, a GEO-ENERGY EUROPE partner added: “Kenya  is a country with a huge potential and a geothermal market in expansion. Investments are favoured by the government and this renewable is considered as strategic, to support the decarbonization of the energy sector. Some of our member companies already have a well-developed business in Kenya and some other have a great potential to provide consultancies to local operators, thanks to their high-level know-how.”

Ferenc Fedor, president of CAPES, a GEO-ENERGY EUROPE Partner noted: “Kenya’s commitment to zero emissions is exemplary. At the same time, it poses a huge challenge in terms of both financial support and technological development as well as knowledge transfer. This creates an opportunity to share our experience and export our knowledge to Kenya and through it to many African countries.”

Other GEE2 participants included Steam Group and Idrogeo from Italy and GEODEEP from France.

 

Geoscience Ireland Members Report Increased Turnover and New Jobs in 2021

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In 2021,  Geoscience Ireland’s (GI)  41  member companies had a combined turnover of €1.313BN delivered by 5,045 employees. Compared to 2020 ,results  indicate an increase in turnover of €82M (+6%) and  a net 366 new jobs created  (+8%). In 2021, 38% of turnover was generated outside Ireland (2020=44%). SME  companies accounted for 48% of Turnover.

Commenting on the Survey, Sean Finlay of Geoscience Ireland (GI)  said;

“The significant increase in turnover and employment by GI members in 2021 reflects the strong recovery in the infrastructure, energy,water services and raw materials sectors and demonstrates GI’s continued successful focus on job creation  driven by developing business in  international markets. GI is supported by   Enterprise Ireland (EI), the Department of Foreign Affairs  and Geological Survey Ireland. The strong performance of GI members aligns with  the recent record results from Enterprise Ireland which reported that EI supported companies reached record levels  of  job creation in 2021 of almost 12,00 net new jobs  and an increase in exports  of 12% .”

Adam Dawson joins Geoscience Ireland (GI) Panel of Experts

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GI is pleased to welcome Adam Dawson to its Panel of Independent Experts.
A graduate in natural sciences from Cambridge, Adam obtained a PhD from Edinburgh and an MBA from Henley. Now based in Ireland, Adam has been involved in senior policy development roles in the UK as a Strategy Adviser to the Nuclear Decommissioning  Authority and as CEO in the Office of Carbon Capture and Storage. Prior to that he held senior positions with Shell Chemicals.

Strong Ireland presence at PDAC 2022

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The Ireland Pavilion at PDAC 2022 from 13 to 15 June was hosted by Geoscience Ireland (GI), iCRAG and Enterprise Ireland (EI). The EU Geothermal Seminar chaired by GI’s Joe Mongan  was useful in learning about the sector in Canada. This event was supported by Department of Foreign Affairs, EI , Invest Alberta and the Canadian Trade Commission. GI was invited to brief meet the Irish Embassy Team in Ottawa the previous week.

See link to PDAC’s press release which suggests that attendance reached 17,000 and that PDAC 2023 will be in March.

See  link to the EU booth and events in which GI participated.

GI companies represented were Mincon, Aurum, PW Mining, SLR, Golder, LTMS and QME. Good to see other Irish delegates from Geological Survey Ireland, DECC, Boliden Tara Mines, Minco , Conroy, Shanoon, Galantas, Equity and Moydow.

The overall sense we  got was that despite current economic disruptions and likely slowdown, mineral demand will remain strong due to the drive to  de-carbonize.

Geothermal Energy Seminar at PDAC

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Geoscience Ireland (GI) is pleased to have led a seminar focused on Geothermal Energy at PDAC in Toronto on June 13th. Delivered as part of a Market Study Visit to Canada by Geo Energy Europe 2 (GEE2), the Seminar heard presentations from Alberta Energy, Quantec, CGG together with GEE2  members Jedser (Turkey), CAPES (Hungary), STEAM and IdroGeo(Italy) . Irish GEE2 members presenting were GI, Mincon and  iCRAG, while Enterprise Ireland provided an overview of Ireland’s clean technology ambitions.

Geothermal Energy has an important role to play in the transition to a green economy, utilizing existing skill-sets in subsurface geoscience.

Geoscience Ireland (GI) at the Global Energy Show Calgary

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Geoscience Ireland (GI) participated in a successful Geo Energy Europe -2  (GEE2) Market Study Visit to the Global Energy Show in Calgary between June 6th to 9th, including a field visit to the nearby Eavor-Lite closed loop demonstration facility. This system has attracted international interest in Italy, Germany, the USA and elsewhere. The visit addressed a key GEE2 objective relating to the investigation of the sustainable application of subsurface knowledge, engineering, supporting the harnessing of deep geothermal energy. Attendees supporting the GEE2 project were Joe Mongan – Geoscience Ireland, Rory Dunphy -Geological Survey Ireland, Alessandro Murratzu -IdroGeo, Caroline Donnelly – Trade Commissioner at the Embassy of Canada in Ireland and Vincent Roche – iCRAG.

Opportunities for collaboration between European SME’s and their Canadian counterparts were explored, with Terrapin, Alberta No1, Frontier, Exergy, Seamount, CanGEA, Geogen, Geological Survey of Canada, Invest  Alberta, IdroGeo, Alberta Energy and Trade Commissioners Canada. The focus was on deep sedimentary geothermal projects for electricity and heat generation  – a key theme of the GeoEnergy-2 meta cluster work programme. GI also learned of Canada’s interaction with the EU Commission from Flavie Guerin, Canada’s First Secretary for Trade & Economic Policy at the EU.

Geo Energy Europe-2 (GEE2)  provides a platform for knowledge transfer, technology transfer marketing and other networking services. GI and Enterprise Ireland will host a Seminar on Geothermal Energy at PDAC on 13th June in Toronto.

 

BC Minister Ravi Khalon meets Geoscience Ireland (GI) and iCRAG

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Ravi Khalon, British Columbia’s Minister for Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation met GI and iCRAG in Dublin on 28th May. Among the topics covered were  opportunities for collaboration in  applied research on climate adaption , including  green Hydrogen, offshore wind  and geothermal energy. The importance of critical raw materials needed for renewable energy and electrification was noted, as were building standards, skill shortages and training needs.

iCRAG has developed strong links with Canadian companies and Universities ( e.g.  Teck and Simon Fraser University). GI member Mincon plc has well established businesses in Canada for drilling products. GI co-sponsors an Apprenticeship in drilling in South East Technical University and hopes to establish links with Canadian providers in this area.

Minister Khalon had earlier met with Ireland’s Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research and Innovation Simon Harris TD who is expected to visit Canada later this year.

Photo shows l to r; Murray Hitzman (iCRAG), Deputy Minister Bobbi Plecas, Minister Ravi Khlaon MLA, Sean Finlay (GI), Aoife Brady and Jennifer Craig (iCRAG)

Clustering Policy Stakeholder Event

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Grant Thornton hosted a Stakeholder consultation on Clustering Policy on behalf of the Department of Enterprise Trade & Employment (DETE ) on 25th May. Introducing the event, Orlaith Quinn, Secretary  General  of DETE emphasized the importance of clustering and networking in addressing recent challenges.  Speakers included Dr. Christian Ketels from Harvard Business School, Dr. Johnathan Potter  form OECD , Merete Neilsen  from Cluster Excellence Denmark and  Juan Estavez from the Catalan Agency for Competitiveness, all of   whom provided informative insights on the economic and social benefits of business clusters .

A report is expected to issue to DETE in June which will be aligned with a forthcoming White Paper on Enterprise Policy in Ireland.

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