Easy wins pay dividends

Supporting businesses to move away from fossil fuels

Few overheads are as uncertain, or as fundamental to the cost of doing business as the price of energy. The international situation has highlighted the vulnerability of relying on imported oil and gas for our economic success. We cannot continue to place the health of our economy – and the thousands of jobs and livelihoods that depend on it – at the mercy of international actors thousands of miles away. We must support businesses to move away from fossil fuels, and towards a more secure, affordable future. 

Helping businesses – large or small, those far along in their journey towards energy independence and those just beginning, now forms a significant part of the work we do at the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). We assist teams to evaluate how and where they are using energy, then provide grants and training to help them reduce waste and move towards more sustainable options. As our current national campaign highlights there are “Easy Wins” for business. We estimate that a business can save up to 20% on their energy costs without spending a penny or affecting the quality of the product or service they offer. That’s a huge difference and is very often equivalent to an even higher percentage of their profits . And beyond cost savings, there are other, really significant benefits to doing this work. Businesses we’ve supported talk to us about the additional business they can attract by being able to demonstrate their sustainability credentials. Very often banks will not loan to businesses if they are not showing that they are being as efficient as possible. 

Easy Wins

For those businesses that are in a position to invest, and capture those Easy Wins - we have a wide- range of supports available to boost that investment. We’ve listened and made funding as easy as possible to access. Our rapid approval grants, which exist for a range of measures including solar and insulation, take minutes to apply for, and are approved instantly. You can look at the excellent case studies on our website and apply and start today.

For those requiring more tailored support, we have a more hands-on scheme, the Excellence in Energy Efficient Design scheme or EXEED for short, and this is for those large-scale projects that yield energy savings in the tens of thousands, while increasing resilience and competitiveness. There really is help available no matter the industry, size, or experience of your business.

Reach out

The first-step is always to get in touch with us at SEAI. We have an excellent team on hand, led by our Head of Business Supports, Dr. Fergus Sharkey, and they will be able to direct you to what you need. Training your staff through our free online Energy Academy or an energy audit is often the place to start and there is a voucher available making it free to do in most cases. This will look at where the obvious savings are for your business and will help create a pathway forward.

The summer months are an excellent time to take stock and put your business in the best possible position for the winter months. We understand the multitude of competing priorities facing business and have worked hard to make our offerings as easy and attractive as possible.

Energy is no longer something we can take for granted. Whether your goal is to reduce costs, increase resilience, or secure the competitiveness of your business, there’s never been a better time to get in touch and take the first step with SEAI.