Energy Intellect gets $1.6m grant

Metering Firm Energy Intellect secured $1.6millon Grant from FoRST

Wellington metering technology company Energy Intellect has received $1.64m from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

The government agency hopes the funding will help Energy Intellect realise its ambition of becoming a world leader in the emerging market for meter management software.

Energy Intellect has been selling a service for several years that lets businesses which have meters recording half-hourly electricity consumption view and analyse their electricity usage patterns online, so they can identify wastage.

Businesses can also use the information to negotiate better prices from retailer, particularly if their data shows they use a lot of energy during off-peak periods.  Customers include Restaurant Brands and Auckland International Airport.

Energy Intellect employs 45 staff and has branched into Australia.  It is 25% owned by Australia's Natural Gas Corporation which paid $7.6millilon for it's stake in 2003.  Listed investment firm Hellaby Holdings also owns a quarter share.

The company will use the grant from the foundations Technology of Business Growth Fund over the next two years to develop three modules that build on its iE2 software platform.  It must match the grant dollar for dollar.

iE2 is designed to help companies manage the vast amounts of data generated by smart electricity meters.

Foundation for Research, Science and Technology business manager Lins Kerr says "iE2 could be a big foreign exchange earner".

"We believe that Energy Intellect's cutting-edge technology could see the company become the leading provider of supreme services to regulated and deregulated energy markets".

Energy Intellect CEO Nick Lewis, an American hired from New York last year, says the company is now being accelerated quite dramatically with the grant" he says.