Secondary school students in Cork learned how they can take action in saving electricity during An Taisce Green-Schools’ regional energy workshop, in partnership with EirGrid, operator and developer of the electricity grid.
Students and teachers from Coláiste Éamann Rís and Scoil Mhuire College, both in Cork City, and Gaelcholaiste Chiarraí, Tralee attended the workshop in the River Lee Hotel today.
The event, which is one in a series being held throughout the country, brought together schools from Cork and Kerry working on the Energy Theme, to develop their awareness around energy conservation and how to effectively manage this important resource in our schools and homes.
The event saw the students and their teachers engage in activities, artwork and experiments, which allowed them to learn more about where electricity comes from and how they can take steps to reduce energy consumption.
They also learned about the Celtic Interconnector Project, a milestone project which will enable the exchange of 700 MW of electricity between Ireland and France.
Travelling 575km from east Cork to the north-west coast of Brittany, with 500km running under the sea, the project will have the capacity to power 450,000 homes and will be a major step towards creating a more secure and renewable energy system.
Green-Schools Global Citizenship officer, Danson Matekwa, also spoke to those in attendance about energy in Kenya, including ‘energy poverty’ and how the nation achieved 90% renewable energy generation.
To close out the workshop, the students made lightbulbs and wrote energy pledges on them which they will aim to work on throughout the academic year.
Community Liaison Officer with EirGrid, Michelle Walsh spoke to students at the recent workshop about EirGrid’s role in leading the secure transition of our electricity grid to low carbon renewable energy.
“It was fantastic to engage with students and teachers here today about energy in all its forms, and to outline how EirGrid is playing its part in climate action, by working to decarbonise the electricity grid,” Walsh said.
“It’s clear from the response from students that younger generations are enthusiastic about leading the charge to make a positive impact in their communities, and events like these present an incredible opportunity, empowering young people to reduce energy consumption and be part of the conversation.”
Rob Nelson, Green-Schools Energy Theme Co-ordinator, said: “It’s workshops like these, bringing schools together, that showcase the bright minds that will help secure our energy future.
“These energised, young change makers have learned how to lead the way in their schools, homes and communities.”
“We are thankful that EirGrid’s sponsorship allows events like these to happen, to help engage and empower young people to reduce energy consumption and spark the conversation,” he added.
Green-Schools officially relaunched its energy theme for primary and secondary schools recently, thanks to its new partnership with EirGrid.
During the 2023-24 school year, schools saved a combined 18 million kWh of electricity, enough to make 58 million cups of tea, due to their participation in the Green-Schools programme, proving that interest in energy is strong among Ireland’s school children.
To date, over 3,000 schools have been awarded the energy flag since the beginning of the Green-Schools programme in 1997.
