Name: Dr. Paul Leahy
Position: SFI Stokes Lecturer in Wind Energy Engineering
T: 353 (0)21 4902017
F: 353 (0)21 4276648
E: paul.leahy@ucc.ie
Biography
Paul Leahy is Science Foundation Ireland lecturer in Wind Energy Engineering at UCC. After graduating in Electrical Engineering from UCC, he undertook his Ph.D. research at the Culham centre for fusion energy in the UK. He subsequently worked in the telecommunications industry before returning to UCC to pursue postdoctoral research in micrometeorology and climate change in the Hydromet group.
His current research interests include new techniques for characterising the spatial and long-term temporal variability of the wind resource; operations of energy storage facilities in supporting renewable electricity generation; autoproduction of wind energy by industrial energy users. He has recently been awarded grants to study pumped hydro participation in energy markets and control and optimisation of on-site wind generation in autoproducer sites.
Background
- BE (Electrical Engineering), UCC, 1995
- EURATOM Marie Curie Ph.D. Fellow (Electrical Engineering/Plasma Physics), UCC/UKAEA-Euratom Fusion Association, 2001
- Telecommunications Engineer, Logica & Adobe Systems, 2000-2003
- Postdoctoral Research Assistant, UCC, 2004-2008
Research Interests
- Optimisation of energy capture and utilisation by wind energy autoproducers.
- Impacts of climate change and resource variability on renewable energy generation.
- Wind forecasting using artificial intelligence techniques.
- Weather extremes and their impacts.
- Land-atmosphere greenhouse gas fluxes, carbon balance of wind energy developments.
Research Opportunities
The SERG Wind Energy Group is expanding and to discuss industry collaboration, M.Eng.Sc. or Ph.D research opportunities contact Dr Leahy directly. Funding for studentships may be available from IRCSET and other sources.
Current Research Projects
- Intelligent Energy from Autoproduction. Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership with Wind Energy Direct Ltd., 2010-2012.
- Wind variability and the feasibility of large scale energy storage in Ireland. Edward McGarrigle, IRCSET MEngSc/PhD Fellow, 2010-2011/13.
- Participant in ERI@MERC, Maritime & Energy Cluster. Irish Higher Education Authority funded strategic research infrastructure project.
- Transforming no-hydropower dams and reservoir hydropower schemes into pumping hydropower schemes in Europe (co-PI with Eamon McKeogh). European Commission Joint Research Centre - Institute for Energy, Research Service contract, 2010-2011.
Some Recent Conference Presentations & Papers
P. Leahy and A. Foley. Electricity demand and wind generation during extreme weather events: case study from Ireland during the winter of 2009/2010. SEEP 2010, Sustainable Energy & Environmental Protection, Bari, Italy, June 2010. P. Leahy, E. Reilly, B. Stefanini, F. Ludlow, M. Monk, J. Harris, G. Kiely. Extreme Events and Climatic Shifts in Ireland. EPA Climate Change Conference, Dublin, June 2010.A.M. Foley, P. Leahy, E. J. McKeogh. Wind Power Forecasting & Prediction. 9th IEEE Electrical Engineering & Environment International Conference, Prague, May 2010.
A.M. Foley and P. Leahy. The role of the professional engineer in the 21st century. International Symposium on Engineering Education, Cork, June 2010.
S. Kehoe, A. Dinan, P. Leahy. Carbon payback times for Irish wind-farms now and in the future. ENVIRON 2010 Conference, Limerick, February 2010.
A.M. Foley, P. Leahy, E. J. McKeogh. Wind energy integration and the Ireland-Wales interconnector. IEEE Conference on Sustainable Alternative Energy, Valencia, 2009.
Selected International Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
P. Leahy and G. Kiely. Short duration rainfall extremes in Ireland: influence of climatic variability. Water Resources Management. In press, published online. doi:10.1007/s11269-010-9737-2.
P. Leahy, G. Kiely, and G. Corcoran. Structural optimisation and input selection of an artificial neural network for river level prediction. Journal of Hydrology, 355(1-4):192-201, 2008.
J. M. Eaton, N. M. McGoff, K. A. Byrne, P. Leahy, and G. Kiely. Land cover change and soil organic carbon stocks in the Republic of Ireland 1851-2000. Climatic Change, 91(3): 317–334, 2008.
K. A. Byrne, G. Kiely, and P. Leahy. Carbon sequestration determined using farm scale carbon balance and eddy covariance. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 121:357-364, 2007.
D. Lawton, P. Leahy, G. Kiely, K. Byrne, and P. Calanca. Modeling of net ecosystem exchange and its components for a humid grassland ecosystem. Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, 111(G04013), 2006.
V. Jaksic, G. Kiely, J. Albertson, R. Oren, G. Katul, P. Leahy, and K. Byrne. Net ecosystem exchange of grassland in contrasting wet and dry years. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 139(3-4):323-334, 2006.
C.-I. Hsieh, P. Leahy, G. Kiely, and C. Li. The effect of future climate perturbations on N2O emissions from a fertilized humid grassland. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 73(1):15-23, September 2005.
K. A. Byrne, G. Kiely, and P. Leahy. CO2 fluxes in adjacent new and permanent temperate grasslands. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 135(1-4):82-92, 2005.
P. Leahy, G. Kiely, and T. M. Scanlon. Managed grasslands: a greenhouse gas sink or source? Geophysical Research Letters, 31(L20507), 2004.
S. J. Fielding, M. Valovic, P. G. Carolan, D. A. Gates, C. Hunt, P. Leahy, A. W. Morris, and COMPASS-D Physics & ECRH Teams. H-modes on COMPASS-D with high-power ECRH. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 40(5), May 1998.
A. L. Colton, R. J. Buttery, S. J. Fielding, T. C. Hender, P. Leahy, and A. W. Morris. Error fi eld penetration and plasma rotation in H mode and controlled ELM-free regimes in COMPASS-D. Nuclear Fusion, 39(4), 1999.
R. J. Buttery, M. De Benedetti, D. A. Gates, Y. Gribova, T. C. Hender, R. J. La Haye, P. Leahy, J. A. Leuer, A. W. Morris, A. Santagiustina, J. T. Scoville, B. J. D. Tubbing, the JET Team, the COMPASS-D Team, and the DIII-D Team. Error fi eld mode studies on JET, COMPASS-D and DIII-D, and implications for ITER. Nuclear Fusion, 39(11Y), 1999.
P. G. Carolan, N. J. Conway, C. A. Bunting, P. Leahy, R. O'Connell, R. Huxford, C. R. Negus, and P. D. Wilcock. Fast charged-coupled device spectrometry using zoom-wavelength optics. Review of Scientific Instruments, 68(1), 1999.