The opportunities for the Midlands at the heart of a green energy revolution was highlighted at the recent Accelerate Green 2025 Conference in Tullamore, hosted by BnM.
With BnM investing in multiple renewable energy projects across the wider Midlands region in wind, solar, hydrogen and BESS, the transition to green energy in the region is well underway, with 1GW of renewable power now in the BnM portfolio, and plans to reach 5GW in the coming years.
The conference highlighted the potential for the Midlands coming from the 4 Eco Energy Parks set to be developed across the region close to those sources of renewable power. Similar to past revolutions in industry, the greatest opportunity for growth in the coming years will be derived from the demand for green energy, which after water is set to be the second most sough-after commodity globally. Companies across the world are seeking green energy, and most importantly, they are seeking to be as close as possible to the sources of that energy.
BnM have already begun to work with AWS to become the anchor tenant at the Derrygreenagh Eco Energy Park, with further interest from pharma, agri-food and advanced manufacturing companies seeking to collocate at the park, when green energy can be further supplemented by heat recovery and cooling technologies for complimenting industries.
Harnessing Green Energy to create new Enterprise Opportunities
Through a packed agenda of speakers and panel discussions, it was highlighted how Ireland is on track to become a leader in renewable energy. With 40% of our electricity currently being produced by wind, Ireland is already a leader in this space. The opportunity exists for Ireland to develop up to 55GW of renewable energy in the coming years, with current projections for national demand peaking at 12GW by 2040. The potential is there to export this excess green energy, or to use it to create further types of renewables such as hydrogen. However, there is a further opportunity for us to use this energy ourselves in new ways, to develop new plans and to create new opportunities for enterprise. The question was posed as to why would we export this energy to fuel enterprise elsewhere, when we could use it to create value and add jobs here in Ireland, but also right here in the Midlands, right where the power is being generated.
To demonstrate just some of this potential, the Accelerate Green programme is Ireland’s only sustainability accelerator programme for early stage and start up companies in the green space. Participants undertake the programme with BnM and Resolve Partners from the Accelerate Green HQ, in the beautiful surrounds of Lough Boora in Co. Offaly. To date 60 companies have been through the programme and over 700 jobs have been created which are skilled, green sector jobs. Each year, the participants in the programme are given the opportunity to present their businesses to the delegates which include policy makers, investors, and stakeholders from across the enterprise, government and academia. Examples of Midlands companies in the most recent cohort include:
Midlands Accelerate Green Companies
Watt Footprint was founded by proud Coolderry man Paul Mahon and Paul O’Reilly, and is based in Mullingar. The company offers a SaaS product which helps companies and homeowners to understand and control their energy usage. With energy costs being one of the biggest costs to any business, the ability to understand energy usage and to control and predict energy costs is proving a very attractive proposition for businesses. Watt Footprint work with clients to capture their energy usage data and make use of it. The introduction of more smart energy technologies is further creating additional opportunities for the business which is doubling revenues year on year and now has operations in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East.
The Circular Food Co. is a food upcycling business founded by brother-sister team Ruairi and Niamh Dooley and based in Tullamore. The siblings have already established a successful consumer food business, BiaSol, and are now turning their attention to the B2B sector for their upcycled food products. While there are great demands on food businesses to be sustainable and reduce costs, food waste is often not considered, with waste or excess ingredients often going for use as animal feed or anaerobic digestion. But the real value is there already in what is produced, now more than ever. One circular food example which the company has developed takes spent grains from the brewing industry and turns this into a high-fibre ingredient for the baking industry – reducing waste, adding value, and keeping it in the food chain. The company is focused on UK and Irish expansion, already counting Dawn Farms and Aryzta among their clients.
A Midlands connection also came from TUS Athlone Polymer Engineering alumni Neil Skeffington, whose plastic recycling venture, Novelplast, seeks to revolutionise how plastics are recycled and reused. With 10% of plastics currently being recycled, and the product accounting for 5% of global emissions, the opportunity is significant. Novelplast offer a genuine Irish-based solution to virgin plastics, converting waste plastics into pellets for remoulding and reuse. Already the company is handling 20,000 tonnes each year, with their recycled plastic product already featuring in car parts, duvets, pillows and food packaging. The company has ambitious growth plans beyond recycling, aiming to become a circular economy solutions company with a target of €100m turnover in 5 years as they take their solutions to global markets.
With programmes such as Accelerate Green taking place in the Midlands, and continued investment in Renewable Energy, the region is developing a growing reputation as a centre for sustainable enterprise and green technologies.
