With the backing of SMS, Cork energy start-up Solo Energy will scale its business and create roles for software developers and project managers.
Today (4 August), Scottish company Smart Metering Systems (SMS PLC) announced its expansion into Cork after acquiring energy tech start-up Solo Energy.
The partnership will result in 20 new software development and project management roles, which will open up over the next five years.
SMS has been working in the UK energy market for more than 20 years, partnering with energy suppliers, industry, the commercial sector and the wider domestic market in a bid to achieve “smarter energy practice”.
The company connects and owns metering systems and databases for energy suppliers and delivers metering and energy management for clients. Its acquisition of Solo Energy will see its reach extend to battery storage, microgeneration and electric vehicle charger installations for homes and businesses.
Solo Energy is based in Carrigaline, Co Cork, and also has a Scottish office in Orkney. The start-up’s goal is to lower energy bills for customers and facilitate the transition to renewable energy by setting up a ‘virtual power plant’. This is achieved through a cloud-based aggregation platform that controls distributed energy assets to balance renewable generation and create smart local energy systems.
The company’s operations director and co-founder, Killian O’Connor, said that the acquisition will allow his team to scale the business in “a sustainable manner while embracing new and exciting opportunities across the energy ecosystem”.
“The 20 jobs created following our acquisition by SMS will also contribute to the fast-expanding renewable energy cluster in Cork and the south-west region, and we are thrilled to play our part in growing such an important, innovative sector.”
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, added that the new jobs will be “highly skilled” and that companies such as SMS will help Ireland “achieve our target of dramatically reducing carbon emissions”.
The expansion and creation of the jobs in Cork are supported by IDA Ireland. The agency’s CEO, Martin Shanahan, described the announcement as a demonstration of “the strong availability of talent in the region”.
To learn more about job vacancies at SMS, visit its website here.
