A SOUTHAMPTON company has been awarded two grants totalling more than £1 million to develop its energy saving software in partnership with two universities.

Igloo Energy, founded in 2016 has received £900,000 from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's (BEIS) Thermal Efficiency Innovation Fund.

The grant will fund a two-year project to further develop Igloo’s software that identifies suitable energy efficient upgrades for customers’ homes.

The research will analyse customers’ energy consumption and as a result, Igloo will be able provide taylor-made package of energy-saving advice for each household.

Igloo Energy will be working in partnership with the team at the Energy and Climate Change Division at the University of Southampton, which will focus on customer engagement, and testing the recommendations. The other partner is the Foresight Group, which will investigate the delivery of low cost financing.

Another grant,worth £120,000, has come from InnovateUK's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund for a project between Igloo and University College London, to create an inventory of energy consumption data sets and an investigation into their quality.

This scheme aims to deliver insight into consumer behaviour and how a customer’s energy consumption pattern relates to their lifestyle and property; and the relationship between consumption and energy spend and expenditure on energy efficient home improvements.

CEO and Co-founder of Igloo Energy, Matt Clemow, says: “Our customers are already using smart technology and seeing their energy consumption, and bills, drop by up to 30 per cent. With these grants, we’re excited to be able to develop our technology to bring even greater savings, reduce household emissions further and boost local economies by increasing consumers’ disposable incomes.

“Our mission is to break the link between profit and volumes of energy sold. Instead our focus is on the provision of energy services to customers that reduce the cost and hassle of running a home. This isn’t just good for our consumers; the environment wins too. After all, the greenest unit of energy is the unit you don’t use.”

Professor AbuBakr Bahaj, head of ECCD at the University of Southampton, says: "This project has many links to our energy research and it is great to have a collaboration with such a forward-thinking energy company in Southampton, creating new jobs and working in partnership with the University. Working on innovative practical solutions to help improve the efficiency of our homes, provides better comfort at reduced cost whilst helping to reduce our carbon emissions to address our climate change targets.”