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A platform that could allow researchers to better understand Ireland’s wind and solar sectors has received funding from the SEAI.
A renewable energy consultancy start-up has been awarded €162,000 to develop a new wind and solar resource data management platform. Backed by funding from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the platform will help researchers tap into valuable wind and solar energy data in Ireland.
By developing the platform, UCD spin-in BrightWind believes it could help Ireland find solutions to reaching the carbon emission reduction targets set by the Climate Action Plan.
In addition to the platform, the funding will support BrightWind in building an open-source data analysis Python library, to enable industry cooperation and research activities through easy access of wind and solar data.
The start-up was founded in 2015 with a core competency in wind resource assessment and is headquartered at NovaUCD.
‘Essential research’
“The open wind and solar data which we will gather in the new platform will contribute to research essential for meeting the Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan target of 70pc of electricity generation to come from renewable sources by 2030,” said Stephen Holleran, co-founder and director of BrightWind.
“It will do this by contributing to research in wind power forecasting to enable higher penetration of wind on the electricity system and for reducing the uncertainty in long-term energy yield predictions of wind farms.”
The company was one of 50 projects backed as part of an €11m fund announced by the Government at the end of December 2019.
Dr Phil Hemingway, head of SEAI’s low carbon technology department, said: “Ireland’s energy system will undergo a rapid, continual and significant evolution during the period 2020 to 2030 and beyond.
“Projects such as these are at the forefront of knowledge development. I would like to congratulate the teams behind the successful projects, and look forward to seeing the outcomes, which will help to lead us to our cleaner energy future.”
Updated, 4.56pm, 15 January 2020: This article was amended to reflect BrightWind is a UCD spin-in, not a spin-out.
