Smart Metering Grants: A Path to Enhanced Sustainability

In a significant move towards sustainability, Enterprise Ireland is offering financial support for businesses looking to implement smart metering systems. As companies face increasing pressure to manage their energy and water consumption effectively, smart metering has emerged as a crucial tool. This initiative aims to help manufacturers, in particular, reduce operational costs linked to resource use.

Smart meters do more than simply provide data; they deliver actionable insights. By monitoring usage patterns over a 24-hour cycle, businesses can identify inefficiencies and unusual consumption trends. Implementing targeted interventions can potentially lead to savings of between 5 percent and 15 percent. Such improvements not only enhance cost efficiencies but also contribute to productivity gains and align with sustainability goals.

Financial Support for Smart Metering

To facilitate the adoption of these systems, Enterprise Ireland is offering grants through its capital investment for energy monitoring and tracking (EM&T) systems program. The initiative supports manufacturing firms by covering up to 50 percent of eligible costs. This includes expenses for meters that monitor electricity, gas, diesel, oil, water, and steam, as well as installation and commissioning. The grants can range from €10,000 to €100,000, making them accessible for businesses of various sizes.

For firms unsure about where to begin or those whose current systems may be lacking, Enterprise Ireland provides additional resources. Through its climate action voucher and greenstart grant, businesses receive expert guidance to develop a metering roadmap, conduct gap analyses, and interpret data effectively. The aim is to enable firms to take proactive control over their resource consumption.

Success Stories Highlighting Impact

Recent case studies presented during an Enterprise Ireland webinar illustrate the tangible benefits of smart metering. Caroline Sugrue from DCS Group, an energy and sustainability services firm, emphasized how real-time data facilitated targeted actions and optimized the sizing of renewable energy systems, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and heat pumps.

At Lee Strand Co-Op Creamery, operations manager John Murphy reported a remarkable 12 percent reduction in electricity usage achieved through the installation of submeters and operational adjustments, all without incurring additional capital costs. Similarly, Donal Budds of FreeFoam Building Products described how metering individual machines and subsystems allowed the company to switch to low-energy vacuum systems, resulting in a 10 percent energy saving for that subsystem. This energy monitoring initiative has fostered a culture of energy savings within FreeFoam, positioning the company to meet ambitious sustainability targets.

With increasing customer demand for reduced carbon footprints, the implementation of smart meters is becoming essential. Accurate monitoring of energy and water usage supports carbon accounting, life cycle assessments, and product carbon footprint labeling. As environmental performance expectations rise, having robust data to inform decisions is now a critical necessity for businesses.

For further information on how to access these grants and resources, interested parties can visit enterprise-ireland.com/en/supports/become-more-sustainable.

Kathleen O’Regan, a senior executive for sustainability solutions with Enterprise Ireland, underscores the importance of these initiatives in shaping a more sustainable future for businesses. By equipping firms with the tools to monitor and manage their resource use effectively, Enterprise Ireland is paving the way for a more sustainable industrial landscape.