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By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, UCD University Relations

Photo (left to right): Assoc Prof Paula Carroll, Ruairi Collins, EirGrid Head of Engineering and Asset Management, Louise O'Flanagan, Stephen Murphy and Eoin Duffy, and Eoin Kennedy, EirGrid Head of Future Operations.

31 March 2025 - Three students from UCD have been announced as winners of the second annual CleanerGrid Competition, taking home €6,000 for their team and €6,000 for the university.

Run by EirGrid – which operates and develops Ireland’s electricity grid – the competition encourages third-level students to solve critical energy challenges, with a focus on sustainability, efficiency and clean energy technologies.

This year’s theme asked students to present a vision of what the growing energy sector will need to look like in 2050 to have sustainably achieved net-zero emissions.

Photo (left to right): Eoin Duffy, Stephen Murphy,  Assoc Prof Paula Carroll (supervisor) and Ruairí Collins.

Mechanical Engineering students Ruairí Collins, Eoin Duffy and Stephen Murphy, known as Todhchaí Glas, claimed the top prize for their proposal showing how pumped hydro energy storage could help with managing wind and solar energy variability.

Students taking part were asked to show how the electricity grid will need to change to allow for more renewable sources and less conventional generation.

This included any government policies that will need to be in place, how the economy will be affected, how the grid will need to adapt and how technology can help to achieve this goal.

The competition was judged by Met Éireann meteorologist Joanna Donnelly; Vish Gain, a technology and business journalist with the Business Post; Professor John Barry, Professor of Green Political Economy at Queen’s University Belfast; and Louise O’Flanagan, EirGrid’s Head of Engineering and Asset Management.

Students from the University of Galway claimed the runner-up prize, while third place went to a team from Dublin City University.

"Competitions such as this are an excellent opportunity for students across UCD disciplines to put their skills to use, finding creative solutions to the clean energy transition," said Dr Paula Carroll from the UCD College of Business, who supervised the Todhchaí Glas team, and also co-chairs the UCD Sustainable Energy Community.

"Today’s 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," said Liam Ryan, EirGrid’s Chief Innovation Officer.

"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."