Students in Mayo empowered to reduce energy consumption

Primary school students from Mayo learned about how they can take steps to conserve electricity, during the An Taisce Green-Schools’ regional energy workshop, in partnership with EirGrid, operator and developer of the national electricity grid.

Students and teachers from Belcarra National School and Castlebar Educate Together National School, recently attended the workshop held in Castlebar.

This event, which was part of a series of workshops taking place across the country over the academic year, brought together students to learn more about where energy comes from, and what steps can be taken to effectively manage electricity use in their homes and schools.

The event saw the students and their teachers engage in activities and experiments to help develop their awareness of energy consumption and how they can lead the charge in their communities when it comes to conserving energy.

They also learned about the North Connaught 110kV Project, which will see a new 110 kV underground electricity cable added to the energy system in the region.

With construction set to begin early next year, the new line will run from Moy substation in Ballina, to Tonroe substation in Ballaghaderreen, strengthening the grid network in Connaught.

Engineering graduate with EirGrid, Niamh Hughes, spoke to students at the recent workshop about EirGrid’s leading role in decarbonising the electricity grid.

“We were delighted to engage with students and teachers about our energy consumption and how EirGrid is contributing to the secure transition of our electricity grid to low carbon renewable energy,” Ms. Hughes said.

“It is truly inspiring to see how passionate younger generations are about climate action, and workshops like these are a fantastic opportunity to empower young people to lead the charge when it comes to energy conservation.”

Rob Nelson, Green-Schools Energy theme co-ordinator, said: “Events such as these showcase the bright minds that will lead the way in securing our energy future and inspiring their schools, homes and communities.

“We would like to thank EirGrid for its support in allowing workshops such as these to happen, empowering young people to be part of the conversation.”

To date, over 3,000 schools have been awarded the energy flag since the beginning of the Green-Schools programme in 1997.