Enterprise Ireland Energy Monitoring Grant: Business Guide

If your manufacturing site has one main electricity meter, a rising bill tells you how much energy you used, but rarely which process used it. The same problem applies to gas, steam, compressed air and other utilities. Before buying meters, establish the questions the readings must answer, check whether your company qualifies for support, and speak to your agency adviser.

Enterprise Ireland’s Energy Monitoring and Tracking Systems support can help eligible manufacturers install new metering equipment. This guide explains the business case, the published eligibility rules and what to prepare for an application. Confirm current availability and terms with your Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta adviser before relying on the support.

Quick Summary

The support is aimed at eligible manufacturing clients of the three agencies, with at least 10 full-time employees in Ireland and five years of sales. It can cover up to 50% of eligible new metering hardware and reasonable installation and commissioning costs, subject to the published expenditure limits, agency approval and available funding. Software subscriptions and ongoing support are outside the eligible scope.

The applicant needs a useful metering plan and an organisational carbon footprint. Discuss the project with your agency adviser before applying online. Do not incur project expenditure before the application, and wait until the Letter of Offer has been accepted before starting the work. These rules come from the official reference document.

Key Takeaways

• Check the company first: being an Irish business alone does not establish eligibility. The manufacturing client, employee and sales conditions matter.
• Design around decisions: identify the processes, utilities and operating questions that each meter will serve.
• Separate eligible costs: new meters, loggers and reasonable installation and commissioning may qualify; software subscriptions and ongoing support do not.
• Prepare evidence early: the application asks about your carbon footprint, existing monitoring, metering plan and the project’s place in your sustainability strategy.
• Protect eligibility: discuss the scope with your adviser and apply before incurring any project expenditure. Start only after accepting the Letter of Offer.

Why install submetering?

A main meter gives a site total. Submeters divide that total into useful parts: a production line, refrigeration system, boiler house, compressed-air network or individual building. That detail lets an operations team ask whether consumption follows output, whether equipment is running outside production hours and whether a change actually reduced demand.

The point is to create a repeatable measurement process, not another dashboard. A practical metering plan names each significant load, the question its reading will answer, how often data will be reviewed and who will act when a trend changes. For example, a manufacturer could compare compressed-air electricity use with production hours, investigate the overnight load and measure again after a leak-repair programme. The result would depend on the site’s actual readings; installing a meter alone does not guarantee a saving.

Better measurements can also strengthen a company’s carbon footprint and decarbonisation plan. The grant’s purpose is to help companies monitor and track energy use as they begin accounting for their activities. Meter data supports that work, but the business still needs an appropriate emissions method and a person responsible for interpreting the results. If you are deciding how much detail to capture, our guides to business energy monitoring and interval meter data explain the difference between whole-site readings and equipment-level visibility.

Who is eligible, and how much can the support cover?

The published eligibility rules specify manufacturing client companies of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta, subject to each agency’s prevailing policies and criteria. An applicant must also:

1. have 10 or more full-time employees in Ireland when it applies; and
2. have been generating sales for at least five years.

These conditions are more specific than the broad labels sometimes shown on a support page. A service business, retailer or newly trading manufacturer should not assume that a useful metering project makes it eligible for this particular fund. If your status is uncertain, ask your agency adviser before building a grant-dependent budget.

The published grant is up to 50% of eligible costs, with eligible expenditure from €10,000 to €100,000. That means potential grant aid of €5,000 to €50,000, calculated on eligible costs excluding VAT. The maximum is a ceiling, not an automatic award. The reference document says funding is limited and an eligible project may still receive no award. Support is provided under de minimis state-aid rules, so disclose relevant aid received by your company or group and check the current position with your adviser.

Which costs belong in the project budget?

The published scope covers new hardware for metering and tracking, such as electricity, gas, diesel, oil, water or steam meters and loggers, plus reasonable installation and commissioning. It excludes software platform costs, specifically subscriptions and ongoing support and maintenance. If a project includes both hardware and an ongoing monitoring service, show them as separate budget lines and ask the agency to confirm how each item will be treated. Do not assume a whole integrated proposal is grant eligible because it includes meters.

What should you prepare before applying?

The sample application form is a useful preparation checklist. It is for information only; the application itself is made online. Its questions point to six pieces of work:

1. Explain your environmental strategy. Describe the site’s energy and emissions objectives, work already done and how the metering project fits the wider business plan.
2. Describe current monitoring. Say what is measured today, what data is available and where the gaps prevent action.
3. Write a metering plan. Identify what will be measured, meter type and expected accuracy, data collection, review frequency and how the readings will be used over time.
4. Calculate your organisational carbon footprint. Enterprise Ireland accepts the Climate Toolkit 4 Business calculator, the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, ISO 14064-1 or a similar approach. The sample form asks applicants using a method other than the Climate Toolkit to provide Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, excluding Scope 3 in that field.
5. Gather utility and company information. Prepare consumption and cost by utility, company and group details, employment and turnover information, and the financial accounts requested by your adviser. The sample asks for audited accounts no more than two years old and management accounts no more than six months old, sent to the Enterprise Ireland Development Adviser before submission.
6. Prepare equipment and procurement evidence. Record the proposed meter quantities, equipment, installation and commissioning costs, and accuracy specifications. The sample calls for one written quote for relevant equipment costing up to €4,999, or three competitive quotations or tenders above that amount where applicable. It says copies are required when claiming and asks for meter accuracy specifications to be emailed to Enterprise Ireland. Confirm the procurement and submission instructions with your adviser for your project.

The application also asks for project impact and environmental compliance information. Your adviser can explain how the fund’s conditions, including state aid and the prohibition on double funding the same expenditure, apply to your business. The reference document is the better source for current terms where the illustrative form and terms differ.

What is the application sequence?

1. Check availability and eligibility with your agency adviser. Enterprise Ireland clients should speak to their Development Adviser. IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta clients should use their agency contact and confirm the route that applies to them.
2. Define the system. The company is responsible for selecting the metering system. A provider can survey the site, design the measurement points and prepare the technical description and costs.
3. Apply through the appropriate agency process. Enterprise Ireland’s page links to its online application system after the adviser discussion. First-time users need to register. The applicant company submits the application; the provider does not decide eligibility.
4. Wait for a decision and accept the Letter of Offer. The reference document says any expenditure incurred before the application date makes the entire project ineligible. Its process says the client can begin the project only after receiving and accepting the Letter of Offer.
5. Install, commission and keep records. Deliver the approved scope and retain the procurement, invoice, payment and technical evidence needed for the claim. The scheme-specific claims guidance and your Letter of Offer govern what must be submitted and when.

A quotation and technical plan help define an application. Paying a deposit, ordering equipment or starting installation changes the position. Ask your adviser to confirm the boundary before making a commitment.

Where Optim Energy fits

Optim Energy can survey a manufacturing site, identify useful metering points, design and supply the submetering system, coordinate installation, commission the agreed scope and help prepare the technical plan and evidence. The site design should reflect the process, existing meters, electrical access, data requirements and the people who will review the readings. Optim Energy can also support ongoing monitoring and reporting after installation.

Where a business needs a wider operating view, Optim EOS can bring compatible meter and equipment data into configured dashboards, alerts and reporting. That is a separate scope decision. A software subscription or ongoing support service should not be placed in the grant-eligible hardware budget. Enterprise Ireland or the relevant agency decides whether the applicant and costs qualify; Optim Energy does not guarantee an award or endorse an application on the agency’s behalf.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this support open to every Irish business?

No. The published route is for eligible manufacturing clients of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta that meet the employee and trading-history conditions. Agency criteria and available funding also apply.

Is an existing main meter enough?

It may establish a whole-site baseline, but it cannot reliably separate the processes or equipment behind that total. The proposed submetering should answer specific operating questions and form part of a credible monitoring plan. See our interval-meter guide for what a main meter can show.

Can software or ongoing monitoring be included in the grant claim?

The published terms exclude software platform subscriptions and ongoing support and maintenance. Separate those costs from eligible new hardware and reasonable installation and commissioning when preparing the budget.

Can we begin work once the application has been submitted?

The reference document says to begin only after the Letter of Offer has been received and accepted. Expenditure incurred before the application date makes the entire project ineligible. Check any proposed commitment with your adviser before proceeding.

Summary

Start with the decision the data needs to support. Then check company eligibility, define the meters and data flow, prepare the carbon footprint and financial information, and agree the application route with your agency adviser. A good submetering project leaves the business with usable evidence after commissioning, whether it is investigating waste, testing an improvement or planning its next investment.

The Enterprise Ireland support page, reference document and sample application are the sources to check with your adviser before committing to a project.