SMARTER ENERGY
CONFERENCE
TECHIES GO GREEN
October 14th 9:30am - 4:00pm
Join business leaders, energy experts, technology innovators, and exhibitors for educational sessions and hands-on guidance to help you manage your company’s transition to cleaner, smarter, and more resilient energy solutions.
Take Control Of Energy Bills And Future Proof Operations
Businesses need to rethink their energy business model. As Ireland moves toward a high-renewables grid, energy is increasingly shifting from static utility pricing toward more dynamic tariffs and demand-responsive systems. Businesses are moving from passive energy consumers to active energy prosumers, able to generate, store, procure, and optimise energy use in response to price signals and operational needs. Organisations that lack this flexibility will face greater exposure to price volatility and reduced control over their energy costs.
Why Attend?
Attending this event provides the clarity needed to navigate that shift and understand the risks and opportunities it’s creating. Rather than a theoretical discussion, the conference focuses on how the energy transition is actually being implemented in practice and what it means for organisations that use significant energy across their buildings and operations.
Who Is This For?
It is designed for finance, operations, and policy leaders who need to understand how the rapid transformation of the energy system will directly impact costs, operations, investment decisions, and competitiveness.
Exhibitors
Agenda
8:45am - 9:20am
Registration
Take the opportunity to get tea, coffee, snacks and network with fellow attendees. Visit our exhibitors to get expert advice and attend educational demos. Set up one to one consultations on your requirements.
9:20am - 9:40am
Platinum Sponsor
Sponsor Name and Title
Welcome Address
Our Platinum sponsor will open the Smarter Energy Challenge conference and speak about the transition to cleaner, smarter, and more resilient energy solutions.
9:40am - 10:10am
Mike Berners-Lee
World renowned consultant, author, climate systems thinker, and sustainability strategist
Keynote Address
Hear from one of the world’s most influential thinkers shaping how we understand and respond to the climate emergency and the energy transition under way. Mike focuses on navigating the global "polycrisis", interconnected challenges spanning the climate and nature emergencies, biodiversity loss, and resource limits.
As a pioneering researcher and author of There Is No Planet B, How Bad Are Bananas?, The Burning Question, and A Climate Of Truth, Mike has boldly claimed that "the planet doesn't care how much renewable energy we generate, only how little fossil fuel we burn" and argues that humanity cannot solve the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and economic instability without radically dismantling systemic dishonesty in politics, business, and the media.
10:10am - 10:40am
Prof. Aoife Foley
Chair in Net Zero Infrastructure, The University Of Manchester
Unlocking Flexibility In A High-Renewables Grid: Its Value For Business Customers
Professor Foley gives us an overview of Ireland's electricity system transformation as the country moves towards its 2030 renewable energy targets, including grid constraints, demand peaks, and the critical role of flexibility, energy storage, and smarter consumption patterns.
Aoife Foley will share her insights on the net-zero energy transition and what it means for businesses. The presentation will explore the roll-out of dynamic electricity pricing, demand response enabled by smart technologies, energy storage, and bidirectional EV charging, highlighting how flexibility can reduce costs, support grid stability, and create new value streams for business customers.
10:40am - 11:10am
Prof. Fabiano Pallonetto
Professor in Management Information Systems,
Maynooth University
Smart Energy Systems: The Digital Layer Transforming Energy Management
Prof. Pallonetto will demonstrate how connected and data-driven energy systems enable businesses to optimise energy use in real time, reduce peak demand, and respond intelligently to changing energy prices. By combining automation, monitoring, and advanced controls, organisations can improve operational performance, lower energy costs, and create a more flexible and resilient energy strategy. These capabilities not only deliver immediate efficiency gains but also prepare businesses to participate in future flexibility markets and maximise the value of renewable energy investments.
11:10am - 11:30am
Coffee Break
Take the opportunity to get tea, coffee, snacks and network with fellow attendees. Visit our exhibitors to get expert advice and attend educational demos. Set up one to one consultations on your requirements.
11:30am - 12:00pm
Colm Byrne
Energy Entrepreneur & Director at Glas Energy
The Rise of the Prosumer: How Businesses Can Become Energy Actors
The economics of the shift from passive consumption to active participation through generation, storage, and demand response. How shifting demand in real time reduces costs, and creates new revenue opportunities.
In this presentation Colm Byrne explores the savings and revenue opportunities of on-premises generation and storage along with smart managed flexible demand. Colm will evaluate the commercial value of prosumer initiatives such as feed-in tariff programmes, Beat The Peak for Business, ToU and Dynamic Tariffs to reduce costs, improve resilience, and create revenue opportunities.
12:00pm - 12:30pm
Presenter TBC
Title TBC
The Battery Storage Revolution: Unlocking Demand Flexibility
As commercial scale battery storage becomes increasingly affordable, this presentation explores how battery storage can unlock demand flexibility by shifting consumption away from peak periods responding to price signals, and integrating onsite renewable generation. Attendees will gain insights into battery storage options, smart energy integration, energy arbitrage, peak demand management, demand response participation.
12:00pm - 12:30pm
Presenter TBC
Title TBC
Renewable Alternatives To Fossil Fuels Heating: The Economics of Heat Pumps, Biomass, and Hybrid Systems For Commercial Applications
This presentation explores the strategies that can help businesses reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, with a focus on technologies, economics, of heat pumps, biomass heating systems, and hybrid heat solutions. Attendees will gain insight into the operational, and carbon reduction benefits of modern heating technologies, the barriers to adoption in Ireland, and the practical steps organisations can take to future-proof their operations.
1:00pm - 2:00pm
Lunch Break
Take the opportunity to get food and refreshments and network with fellow attendees. Visit our exhibitors to get expert advice and attend educational demos. Set up one to one consultations on your requirements.
2:30pm - 3:00pm
Guest Speaker
(To be announced)
Financing the Transition: Making Clean Energy Projects Commercially Viable
Access to capital and innovative funding models will be critical to accelerating Ireland's energy transition. This presentation explores how green finance, Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), Energy Service Company (ESCO) models, grants, and tailored investment structures are helping businesses overcome upfront cost barriers and deploy low-carbon energy solutions at scale. Attendees will gain insights into the financing mechanisms that are unlocking renewable energy, energy efficiency, storage, and heat decarbonisation projects, enabling organisations to reduce risk, improve returns, and achieve their sustainability goals faster.
2:00pm - 2:30pm
Alan Wyley
Chief Executive Officer, EnergyCloud Ireland
EnergyCloud - Turning “Discarded” Energy Into A Force For Good
Recent spikes in gas and electricity prices has once again highlighted the ongoing problem of fuel poverty. Alan Wyley tells us about the not‑for‑profit social enterprise EnergyCloud which redirects surplus renewable electricity (mainly curtailed wind energy) into homes experiencing energy poverty. Through partnerships with government, local authorities, approved housing bodies and energy partners, EnergyCloud delivers free, clean energy to homes across Ireland. Alan goes into detail about how EnergyCloud remotely switches on devices in recipient homes (e.g. water heaters) to absorb this surplus electricity that would otherwise be “discarded”.
3:00pm - 3:50pm
Peter Lantry
Managing Director, Equinix Ireland
Jerry Sweeney
Founder and Managing Director, CloudCIX
Prof. Aoife Foley
Chair in Net Zero Infrastructure, The University Of Manchester
Sponsor (TBC)
Sponsor Name and Title
The Big Debate - Is the Irish grid ready for the clean energy transition and how is it affecting the Irish business energy transition?
Join us for a lively panel discussion exploring the opportunities and challenges of Ireland's transition to a smarter, more flexible energy system. From demand flexibility and energy storage to electrification, low-carbon heat, financing, and the rise of the energy prosumer, the panel will examine the practical actions businesses can take today to reduce costs, enhance resilience, and support Ireland's net-zero ambitions. Attendees will gain valuable insights, real-world perspectives, and the opportunity to hear differing views on the technologies and strategies shaping the future of energy in Ireland.
3:50pm - 4:00pm
Michael O’Hara
Co-Founder
Techies Go Green
Closing Address
Michael will close the Smarter Energy Challenge conference and summarise the takeaway from the day and the opportunities for businesses as they transition to cleaner, smarter, and more resilient energy solutions.
12:00pm - 12:30pm
Prof. Sarah McCormack
Professor In Sustainable Energy, Trinity College Dublin
The Practical Benefits Of Smart Energy Storage
Prof. McCormack will discuss her work with RevRenew (Revving up Renewable Integration: Standardising Smart Connections for EVs and Renewables). This project focuses directly on managing and optimising residential and community-level energy storage systems. The project looks at ways to enhance system flexibility, optimise energy storage usage, and evaluate the impact of different energy storage technologies within smart buildings.