Wexford student claims third place and €3,000 prize at EirGrid’s CleanerGrid competition

An electrical engineering student from University College Dublin has secured third place and a joint prize of €3,000 at the annual EirGrid CleanerGrid Competition, following an event held in Dublin. 

Harry Stevens, from Gorey, along with his teammates earned an impressive third‑place result with their submission investigating an integrated “Offshore Transmission Outage Coordination System and Wind Turbine monitoring dashboard prototype”. The innovative design which the team described as a “master project manager for offshore wind turbines”, would allow users to monitor turbines and substations off the Irish coast. 

The CleanerGrid competition run by EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland’s electricity grid, aims to foster innovation and creativity by encouraging students to showcase their skills in solving critical energy challenges, with a focus on sustainability, efficiency and clean energy technologies. 

With a prize of €3,000 (€1,500 for the winning student team and €1,500 for the student’s third-level institute), this year’s theme asked students to consider “Opportunities and challenges in accelerating offshore wind potential.” 

The award was presented to the winners by a panel of expert judges - Louise O’Flanagan, Head of Asset Management and Engineering at EirGrid, James Ives, CEO of XOCEAN, Dee Kehoe, Continuous Professional Development Director at Engineers Ireland, Dr. Brendan Cahill, Programme Manager for Innovation & International Research at SEAI and Dr. David Tosh, Lecturer in Terrestrial Ecology and Course Director at Ulster University 

Entrants were asked to present innovative, practical solutions that address both the opportunities and obstacles in developing Ireland’s offshore electricity infrastructure.  Among the ideas put forward by the three competing teams of finalists from UCD included tackling curtailment and evaluating the use of underwater drones to monitor offshore renewable assets.  

These teams were selected from a strong field of thirty-two submissions, involving 115 students across nine higher level institutions. 

Following the event, the team spoke positively of their experience, saying, “Getting the opportunity to present a project we’ve spent so long developing was such an enjoyable experience for all of us. It felt great to show the work behind it and talk through an idea we’re really proud of to a panel of experts in their fields. 

“We also thoroughly enjoyed working as a team, with some of the most memorable moments of the project being late evenings on campus, figuring things out together and having fun along the way, it gave us a real sense of what we can achieve as a team.” 

Congratulating all the teams on an engaging series of presentations, EirGrid Chief Transformation, Technology and Offshore Officer Liam Ryan said, “This is our third annual CleanerGrid completion and year-on-year it is fantastic to see the projects designed by third level students. Offshore wind has the potential for transformative opportunities for Ireland and is essential for strengthening our energy security, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and meeting our climate targets. Bringing students and young people with us on that journey is key. 

“Through our third level institutions, these students are immersed in the latest cuttingedge innovations, and their research and fresh thinking are more valuable than ever, as we move toward delivering Government targets for a sustainable, resilient, renewable energy system. We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the competition and to the three team who presented in today’s final.”