Leading Energy Research and Development at SEAI with Lucy Corcoran

What is your background briefly?

I am an engineer with ten years’ experience across industry, academia and now the public sector. Over this time, I have had the opportunity to apply my skills in the sustainability space, which I’m passionate about, and work with some fantastic people and organisations along the way. I currently work in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), managing energy research and innovation programmes.

Does it seem like a logical background to what you do now?

Yes, it does. Over the past ten years, I have worked in energy research and development across the industry, from the marine renewable energy sector to IBM Research Ireland, as well as in academia while undertaking my PhD research at Trinity College Dublin. I have gained a great understanding of the energy research and development environment, and an appreciation for the key part that policymakers must play, and so my current role at SEAI is a perfect fit for me.

1 min pitch for what you are doing now?

At SEAI I manage the National Energy RD&D Funding Programme, which supports cutting edge Irish energy RD&D projects across industry and academia. I also lead and coordinate Irish participation in European research initiatives, represent SEAI on national committees and represent Ireland on the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (Set-Plan) Steering Group, which aims to accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies by coordinating national research efforts.

Why is there a need for increased energy research and development in Ireland?

Climate issues and sustainability are increasingly at the forefront of public consciousness and public debate, and the next few years will be vital in terms of our collective response to climate change. We are not on track to meet our binding 2020 energy targets or emissions reduction targets, but there is still time to increase efforts to meet our 2030 targets and longer-term decarbonisation goals. We are facing many challenges, and so it is vital that we increase our focus on research and innovation. We need new solutions, technologies and policies, to meet these challenges. SEAI will be central in supporting our national response.

Over the last few years, SEAI has ramped up its support for energy research, through key updates to its energy research programmes. With the support of increased government funding, we now have a bigger overall budget, allowing us to support more projects. We can also now support multi-annual projects, where previously projects were restricted to shorter term (~6 month) durations.

This allows researchers to explore solutions in more depth, and to undertake larger scale and more complex demonstration projects. Richard Bruton, Minister for Communications, Climate Action & Environment, launched the 2019 Programme and highlighted the need for the Irish Government to continue to invest in research to help drive the discovery of new technologies and solutions to enable Ireland’s low carbon energy transition:  https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/bruton-announces-funding-of-4m-for-green-energy-research-projects-1.3764459

Check out the new @SEAI_ie National Energy Research Database & search for Irish #energyresearch projects by topic, year funded & keyword #LoveIrishResearch https://t.co/q9pINrCpMu

— Lucy Corcoran (@LucyCorcoranPhD) February 15, 2019

What national and international energy RD&D opportunities does SEAI provide and facilitate?

SEAI’s national research funding and necessary supports are provided through the SEAI National Energy RD&D Funding Programme. This programme runs as an annual competitive call to support innovative Irish energy RD&D projects. The 2019 Call is currently closed, with applications under technical review. Last year SEAI awarded funding to 50+ innovative energy-related RD&D projects, across areas like community energy, renewables (wind, solar, bioenergy), energy in buildings, smart grids, energy forecasting and digitalisation.

You can find further details of all 2018 supported projects in the National Energy Research Database. This database is a central hub for publicly funded energy RD&D projects in Ireland, providing outline details of these projects and key project outputs. It also provides a facility for energy researchers to search for collaborative partners.

SEAI is also a funding partner on a number of European Research Area Networks (ERA-NETs). These collaborative initiatives provide an opportunity for Irish researchers to participate in transnational RD&D projects. I am the national contact point for the ERA-Net Smart Energy Systems initiative, a European joint programming platform of 30 national and regional funding partners, across 23 countries.

A competitive call for projects focused on integrated renewable energy systems was launched in September last year, with a total of €33.3m in funding available. I will be at the All-Energy Conference in Glasgow this week, where the ERA-Net Smart Energy Systems Call Management committee will be releasing details of successfully selected projects from this 2018 call. Watch this space for details of Irish success!

https://www.eranet-smartenergysystems.eu/Event/35/Connecting-Networks-Multilateral-Innovation-and-Collaboration.html

When you look at how successful the Orkneys have been in developing high levels of energy generated from renewable energy how quickly do you think we could achieve this in Ireland too?

The Orkney Islands are a great example of a community embracing renewables, where they generate more renewable electricity than their population can use. At the national level, Ireland is currently a world leader in the amount of variable renewable electricity (at 65%) that we can host on our national grid instantaneously. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently completed their periodic review of Ireland’s energy policies and commended this remarkable achievement which they attributed as proof of the substantial innovation and research capacity of the Irish economy.

Despite this we are not on track to meet our binding EU renewable energy target, which requires 16% of final energy use across all sectors (electricity, heat and transport), to come from renewables by 2020. As of 2017, overall renewable energy supply contributed to 10.6% of gross final energy consumption in Ireland (SEAI Renewable Energy in Ireland Report, 2019).

 SEAI today published the 2019 National Energy Projections Report, which tracks Ireland’s progress towards our 2030 and 2050 energy and emissions targets. The report forecasts that ~13% of Ireland’s energy will come from renewable sources by 2020, falling short of our 16% target.

Looking towards 2030 and beyond, it is clear that we need to scale up our ambition so that we can further accelerate Ireland’s sustainable energy transition. Increased research and innovation will be central to support this ambition.

How can people find out more about you and your work?

You can connect with me on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucycorcoran/

and Twitter:

https://twitter.com/LucyCorcoranPhD/

Check out the new @SEAI_ie National Energy Research Database & search for Irish #energyresearch projects by topic, year funded & keyword #LoveIrishResearch https://t.co/q9pINrCpMu

— Lucy Corcoran (@LucyCorcoranPhD) February 15, 2019

You can find out more about SEAI’s research supports here:

http://www.seai.ie/resources/seai-research/

To search for previously funded Irish energy research projects, and connect with Irish energy researchers, check out the SEAI National Energy Research Database:

https://www.seai.ie/resources/seai-research/research-projects/

About SEAI

SEAI is Ireland’s national energy authority investing in and delivering, appropriate, effective and sustainable solutions to help Ireland’s transition to a clean energy future.

We work with Government, homeowners, businesses and communities to achieve this, through expertise, funding, educational programmes, policy advice, research and the development of new technologies.

SEAI is funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

You can read articles about the SEAI here.

About Lucy Corcoran

Dr Lucy Corcoran works on delivery of the SEAI National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Funding Programme, which supports innovative energy RD&D projects that contribute to Ireland’s transition to a clean and secure energy future. Lucy is an engineer with ten years’ experience in the energy sector, across industry, academia and the public sector. She holds Bachelors (Engineering) and Doctoral (Hydropower Energy Recovery) degrees from Trinity College Dublin and is a graduate of the UCD-TCD-QUB Innovation Academy (Innovation and Entrepreneurship). Lucy was selected as a McKinsey & Company Next Generation Women Leader in 2016 and was recently awarded Accenture Women in Data Science Winner 2019.

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