Assoc Professor Terence O'Donnell
Associate Professor in UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Let’s meet Terence O’Donnell, NexSys Director and an Associate Professor in UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Terence has a PhD from UCD and worked in the National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC, now Tyndall National Institute) in Cork and with Enterprise Ireland before returning to UCD in 2013.
What is your research about?
I mainly work in power electronics, and the control algorithms for converters to connect and integrate renewable energy sources into the electricity grid.
Tell us about your journey into this area of work.
I studied engineering in UCD and stayed on to do a PhD in numerical simulation tools for designing motors. That was a big emerging area back then. When I finished that, I moved to Cork to work with the National Microelectronics Research Centre, which we know today as Tyndall National Institute. My research there focused on using numerical simulation tools and models for power electronics and converters. I’ve grown my research in that area ever since, and I moved back to UCD around 12 years ago.
Why are converters an important component of Ireland’s move to net zero energy?
One of the important aspects we need to manage with the electricity grid is what happens when there is a change in the system, such as an extra load coming on or dropping off, or if there is a fault somewhere, like maybe a generator or a line gets disconnected. Traditionally, the power in Ireland’s electricity system has been supplied by large, rotating generators. These generators are slow, and that buys you time to balance the system when some change happens.
To move to net zero, we need to integrate renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and photovoltaics which connect to the grid through power electronics converters. These converters are quite different to the traditional generators, they act fast and don’t have the inertia of the traditional generators, so the system state can change faster, giving less time to respond to changes. This means that to integrate decarbonised sources efficiently, we need the right programmed control algorithms for the converters, to keep the system balanced.
Can you give us an example of research you are working on now?
We are exploring how electric vehicle batteries can be connected to provide power to a home or grid. It will be common in the future for people to use the power stored in their charged electric vehicle battery to power electrical appliances or systems in their homes, and we are looking at the converter control algorithms to do that and the economics of it.
What’s your proudest moment from your career to date, and how has it shaped your work since?
When I was in Cork, I worked on a technology for integrating magnetic power electronics components onto silicon. It was a really interesting project, but at the time we didn’t get much traction from companies. Many people in industry would have said to us that they didn’t see that technology being needed for years and years and years, it was too far ahead of its time. Then about a decade later the technology was licensed and is now considered successful.
It’s nice to see a tangible outcome from the work, even that amount of time later, and it’s a reminder that in order to progress technology, sometimes we need to explore the interesting questions and have the research done and ready for when the knowledge can be applied.
How has your perspective on energy research broadened during your career?
I’ve always had a focus on components in my research, but I’ve also widened my interests out towards the energy system as a whole, and how renewable energy sources can be integrated into the energy system in ways that meet demand.
I’m interested in how energy sources can fit into the system, and one of the benefits of working in a programme like NexSys is that you get to work with people from different disciplines who can help to answer those questions.
You were involved in a recent NexSys Roadmap publication, which focuses on some of the steps needed for Ireland to decarbonise its energy system. What stood out to you from that exercise?
In NexSys we have lots of detailed research being driven by individual researchers and groups across individual work packages. The idea of the road map is to bring it all together and understand what the research means for Ireland's move towards a decarbonized energy system or a net zero system.
It can be challenging to get that higher-level view, but it’s also rewarding to see that common purpose of the research, and how as a whole it can enable possibilities for the Irish energy system.
What do you see as a key step for Ireland to decarbonise its energy system?
I think we need action, to really get on with things. We have a broad picture of how a decarbonised energy system in Ireland should look, now we need to take the steps to get there. In Ireland we have a way to go to catch up with other countries that have invested in renewable sources of energy, especially in offshore wind for example
We need to invest in the infrastructure to generate that energy, so we can harness the many technologies that already exist and the research that is showing us how to use those technologies for a decarbonised grid.