The Smart Grid Innovation Hub has announced the shortlist for the competition to find the most promising start-up for a Smart Grid solution or service.

The winner, who will be announced after a pitch competition on 12th March at the 2014 Energy Show in Dublin's RDS, and is in line to receive €10,000 in funding as well as a range of other valuable prizes.

The four Smart Grid Innovation Hub Smart Pitch finalists are Brendan McGrath from Ocean Renewables Ltd and Connor O'Reilly from EcoWatch Ltd. John Byrne from Low Carbon Technology ltd and Dudley Stewart from Smart M Power.

The four shortlisted companies are from across the country. Ocean Renewables Ltd is based in Wexford and is exploring an energy storage system for renewable power sources, according to MD Brendan McGrath while Galway's Dudley Stewart's company, Smart M Power, is developing smart micro energy clusters. Connor O'Reilly, from Limerick, is the MD of EcoWatch, and they are producing smart grid distribution network monitoring solutions. Finally John Byrne, who hails from Malahide in County Dublin, will be pitching a battery array management system on behalf of his company, Low Carbon Technologies limited.

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This impressive field will compete in front of an audience in an effort to impress the expert judges including John Geoghegan from the National Digital Research Centre, Michael Walsh from EirGrid, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s Declan Meally and Editor of SiliconRepublic.ie John Kennedy.

A Smart Grid is an electricity network which facilitates the large-scale integration of renewable energy, utilises the electricity infrastructure efficiently through the optimal use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) & seamlessly integrates the actions of all users connected to the network in order to deliver sustainable, economic & secure electricity supplies.

(CD/MH)