Student from Mayo in team that claims top prize at EirGrid’s CleanerGrid competition
Eoin Duffy from Ballina alongside his fellow UCD student team-mates Ruairí Collins and Stephen Murphy have together claimed the top prize of €12,000 (€6,000 for the winning student team and €6,000 for the student’s third-level institute) for their proposal showing how pumped hydro energy storage could help with managing wind and solar energy variability.
This year’s theme tasked students with the following: 'Present your vision of what the growing energy sector will need to look like in 2050 to have sustainably achieved net-zero emissions'.
The award was presented to the winners by judges Joanna Donnelly, meteorologist with Met Éireann, Vish Gain, technology and business journalist with the Business Post, Professor John Barry, professor of green political economy at Queens University Belfast, and EirGrid’s own head of engineering and asset management, Louise O’Flanagan.
The CleanerGrid competition run by EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland’s electricity grid, aims to foster innovation and creativity by encouraging third-level students to showcase their skills in solving critical energy challenges, with a focus on sustainability, efficiency and clean energy technologies.
Entrants were asked to show how the grid will need to change to allow for more renewable sources and less conventional generation, including what government policies will need to be in place, how the economy will be affected, how the grid will need to adapt, how technology can help achieve this goal, or any other relevant points they identify in order to create a resilient energy system for the future.
Among the ideas put forward by the five competing teams of finalists from DCU, University of Galway, UCD and Trinity College Dublin included pumped hydro energy storage, leveraging our coasts through offshore wind, and the use of artificial intelligence in grid enhancement.
Following their victory, Eoin, a mechanical engineering student, spoke positively of the team’s experience, saying: “Coming from mechanical engineering, a project like this would not be something we would get to do in college. We wanted to use it as an opportunity to get in insight into the energy markets moving forward and we have learned so much over the course of creating this proposal.”
Congratulating all the teams on an engaging series of presentations, EirGrid chief innovation officer Liam Ryan commented: “This competition is further evidence of the valuable contributions third-level students can offer in tackling societal challenges such as decarbonisation, energy affordability and climate action. They are at the forefront of the latest cutting-edge research through our universities, and we can learn so much from them.
“As we work towards delivering the government targets for a decarbonised, sustainable, and strong economy, we recognise the importance of bringing students and young people with us on the journey as we transition to a clean, renewable energy grid. We offer our thanks to everyone who took part in today’s final, coming from all corners of the country.”