TU Dublin team claims prestigious EirGrid award for clean energy solutions

A team from TU Dublin [Technological University Dublin] has won EirGrid’s CleanerGrid Award.

EirGrid, the developer and operator of Ireland’s electricity grid, commended the winners for their innovative solution to help change people’s energy usage patterns for the better.

Victorious team members Jack Brady, Ugochukwu Uzoukwu and Alexsandra Dozorova claimed the top prize of €2,000 for their proposal to optimise user activity during periods of high wind generation and low demand.

The CleanerGrid competition was open to third-level students around the country.

Applicants were asked to use data from EirGrid’s Smart Grid online dashboard, and/or from the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) website, to create a digital prototype of a website, application or dashboard that might encourage citizens to be more mindful of their energy consumption habits, thereby making an important contribution to Ireland’s clean energy transformation.

The final of the competition was judged by industry experts at EirGrid’s Dublin headquarters, and featured many potential innovative solutions to this challenge.

Among the ideas put forward by the three competing teams of finalists from UCD and TU Dublin included fully functioning website and app prototypes. 

These featured elements such as a personalised and customisable interface, and notifications that alert users to better times of day to use electricity aligning with greater renewables availability.

Further suggestions included providing information on renewable energy availability in Ireland, an energy-saving quiz to encourage interaction with the platform, and a means of enabling users to swap energy-saving tips.

“Our goal was to take in data around demand and wind generation and display it an accessible way,” said Jack Brady of the winning team.

Jack, from Roundwood, Co Wicklow, said: “This was with a view to getting users to consume at times when there’s high generation and low demand, and then conversely to not do so when there’s low generation and high demand.

“We knew we had to come up with an algorithm to process that data, which was the hardest part of the process. We knew how to put together a website, retrieve data, and build a dashboard, but really just figuring out how to process and display all of that was the key.

“I think the primary benefits of our platform would be taking the pressure off the grid, and keeping the grid as stable as possible by ensuring people are consuming at off-peak hours.”

Participants across the board also acknowledged the extent to which taking part in the competition helped to enhance their teamwork and problem-solving skills, as well as technical areas including website design and working with data, and greatly improved their understanding of the energy system and its part in decarbonisation.

Congratulating all the teams on an engaging series of presentations, EirGrid Chief Executive Mark Foley said: “It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm from teams of third-level students around the country, putting forward thought-provoking solutions that can help citizens make the best energy usage choices both for themselves, and for society as a whole.

“Today represented another attempt to reach out into the world of education and academia, as we explore a realm where solutions can come much faster.

“We offer our thanks to everyone who took part in today’s final, and we hope that they take the ideas and enthusiasm stemming from this event forward with them as their interest in this vitally-important area develops further.”