Tipp company spearheads Ireland’s e-storage market
Tipp energy company wins next round in STEPS business support programme
An Irish SME based in Tipperary, Clean Tech Renewable Energy Ltd, has received the ‘Second Voucher’ in STEPS, a coveted business support programme in the e-storage space. Clean Tech is the only Irish business in this period to receive the support, from an initial 20 SMEs based across North-West Europe.
Along with four other EU candidates that successfully completed the first round, Clean Tech are now one step closer to launching their innovative sustainable energy product and positioning Ireland at the centre of Europe’s e-storage market.
The STEPS Business Support Programme is coordinated by 3 Counties Energy Agency (3cea) in Ireland. 3cea has joined forces with partners from Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom to strengthen the competitiveness of innovative energy storage (e-storage) providers in North-West Europe.
3cea’s EU Projects Manager Michael Doran for STEPS commented,
“As electricity becomes a more significant part of our energy mix, the requirement to be able to store electricity will become increasingly important. Energy storage is another way that SMEs can reduce their energy costs and increase their efficiency if they can access systems which provide low-cost electricity when they need it.”
The STEPS programme will advise e-storage SMEs, like Clean Tech, on entering new markets in Europe, engage with potential end-users, and increase the awareness of solution providers. Going further, STEPS will connect providers of new e-storage solutions with end-users via a business support programme to increase their technological readiness level (TRL) through real-life testing.
Currently, many SMEs in North-West Europe, including Ireland, have developed effective e-storage solutions but have difficulty validating their products and bringing them to market due to a lack of access to testing. As a result, 80 per cent of the mid-size battery storage market in the EU come from outside Europe. Having been awarded the ‘second voucher’ in STEPS, Clean Tech will now move forward to the real-life testing phase at Wexford County Hall. The e-storage company will start testing at the end of August 2021 and will remain on site until January 2022.
Colin Healy, EU Communications Officer for 3cea explains,
“Real-life testing is essential for e-storage providers like Clean Tech to finetune and validate their product. It also helps to ensure compatibility for the end-users and to demonstrate the value of their product. This will increase confidence in technology and provide evidence for their value proposition when entering the market. Having access to the innovative testbeds at Wexford County Council is invaluable for e-storage companies to gain access to the market and we are very fortunate to have them on our doorstep here in the South East.”
Wexford County Council opened its new building, which was designed by Robin Lee Architecture, in 2011 and received a Civic Trust Award in 2012. The facility is equipped with a Building Energy Management System (BeMS) with a 10kWp PV system installed on the roof of the building. Wexford County Hall is a viable Testbed for energy storage, testing and familiarisation with battery technology.
Steps is an Interreg-funded project aiming to accelerate energy sustainability on both a local and global scale. Ireland has been assigned €1,194,410 of the total €5M budget for the overall Interreg North-West Europe project. A new cohort of SMEs applied for the latest call for the STEPS Business Support Programme and are now being assessed for enrolment and 3cea hopes to make an announcement on this shortly.
For more visit www.stepsnwe-application.com | www.3cea.ie
