Full of energy
Modus Energy is on track to go international on the back of growth in Ireland and the UK in providing energy efficiency consultancy services
Responding to the challenge of climate change may be Modus Energy’s overriding mission, but the Kilkenny-based consultancy’s ability to help customers make significant time and cost savings by identifying inefficient energy use is one of its more immediate selling points.
The business was founded in 2011 by Sean Doyle and Rodger Greene, who had both previously worked in construction. “During the recession we diversified into energy efficiency and trying to save people money at a time when being lean was the thing to do,” explains Doyle.
“It became very apparent early on that businesses that had not embarked on a structured energy efficiency programme were wasting between 25% and 50% of their energy use. The commercial opportunity was immense,” adds Greene.
“We got into energy monitoring and management systems and that started us on the consultancy path.”
In 2012, the company won a tender to deliver energy management products and services to SSE Airtricity’s commercial customers. Effectively, Modus has become the engine of SSE Airtricity’s energy services department.
Since the Sustainable Energy Authority
of Ireland’s Energy Efficiency Obligation Scheme was introduced in 2014, the company has verified over 150 GWh of primary energy savings under the scheme. According to Doyle, this is the equivalent of removing 28,652,000kg of CO2 from the atmosphere, taking 17,686 cars off the roads, planting 11,020 trees or powering 7,250 homes for a year.
As well as representing a substantial part of its revenue, the SSE Airtricity partnership has enabled the company to develop relationships with large companies across a range of sectors. “We’re finding more projects and delivering more services on the back of these relationships,” Doyle says.
In addition to its consultancy services, Modus Energy has acquired licensing agreements for two of the biggest energy monitoring software platforms in Ireland and the UK. “This enables us to maintain great relationships with multiple clients and sites across a very wide geographical area at the same time,” says Greene.
“We have become embedded in many of our clients’ businesses through co-management of their energy management systems, whilst developing a steady recurring revenue stream through software licensing and ongoing management fees.”
So far, Modus Energy has operated primarily in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. The company, which currently employs four people, now aims to develop international markets through key strategic partnerships developed with larger contracting firms. This will see it operating in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America and South America in the coming year.
“We got into energy monitoring and management systems and that started us on the consultancy path”