Irish energy firm to open UK office

14/10/2009

IRISH company FMC-Tech has revealed plans to open a new office in the northwest as its revolutionary electricity monitoring technology gathers pace.

The new base in Cheshire will enable the County Clare firm to better service the UK energy market as it develops its telemetry system for wide scale use across the Utility network.

Its system – which took four years to develop and has eight granted patents – combines line mounted sensors and state-of-the-art software to rapidly locate faults and increase the capacity of conductors, thereby  delivering more wind generation, and making power distribution networks more intelligent.

It has already been extensively piloted both in the UK and internationally by companies including Scottish Power, ESB Ireland, Northern Ireland Electricity, Polish energy firm RZE and Asian firm TNB. Its features improve efficiency and reduce carbon levels, which are fundamental components of the smart grid due to be implemented throughout Europe and the United States.

FMC-Tech, whose headquarters is in Shannon, County Clare, will open an office within the world-class Energy Innovation Centre Capenhurst, towards the end of the year, creating up to 10 new marketing, sales and engineering positions.

With the support of the Energy Innovation Centre’s team and its partner organisations, FMC-Tech is currently reducing the cost and size of the system to commercialise the product across the UK and global energy market. The Energy Innovation Centre was instrumental in securing a recent £300,000 industry grant via the Innovation Funding Incentive (IFI) to assist FMC-Tech in this process.

It is a very exciting time for the company as it continues to go from strength to strength. Mike McCormack, managing director of FMC-Tech and creator of the system, said: “We are making networks more intelligent and under this project with the Energy Innovation Centre we are dramatically reducing the cost of doing that, which is great. Investing in technology is vital for improving network efficiency and customer supply reliability. Our initial target markets are Ireland, the UK, Scandinavia, Poland and South East Asia, where we already have a presence. As one of our key markets is the UK we are going to put in marketing, sales and engineering support at Capenhurst, Cheshire, to service the UK market.”

FMC-Tech plan to raise €5M through industry investment in 2010. The global power market for monitoring systems has an estimated worth in excess of €6.5B.

The Energy Innovation Centre, which opened in 2008, connects individual inventors and small businesses with the large UK energy companies and funding initiatives. It works with companies as far afield as Nebraska and Toronto.

The Energy Innovation Centre actively seeks businesses or individuals with a bright idea in energy products or services that they want to turn into commercial reality.

Denise Massey, Director of the Energy Innovation Centre, said: “FMC-Tech is going from strength to strength and we look forward to welcoming their new UK team to our Incubator facility at Capenhurst later in the year. This is a fantastic example of the advancements that can be achieved in a relatively short period of time by pooling expertise from all corners of the energy industry. As a relatively new organisation we want more inventors and companies with cutting-edge ideas and products to know that the Energy Innovation Centre is here and in conjunction with our dedicated partner network, we are here to help them take their ideas and products to the next level.”

The Energy Innovation Centre aims to create 30 new companies and 100 new jobs by 2013. Four companies have already moved into its Incubator at Capenhurst Technology Park.

For more information visit www.energyinnovationcentre.com

 

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