IRISH firm Vayu Energy is to expand its operations in the north as it seeks to win more business customers.
The company supplies electricity and gas in the industrial and commercial sector.
Its planned expansion is expected to create around 20 jobs in the next three years.
The firm has operated in Northern Ireland on a small scale for some years entering the greater Belfast gas market in 2009 and offering electricity since 2012.
According to the most recent data from the Utility Regulator, Vayu has around 44 customers north of the border.
But it now plans to replicate its success in the Republic where its list of clients include Tesco, C&C Group, Debenhams, Dublin Port Company and Aer Lingus.
The company was formed in 2003 and now supplies 20 per cent of the Republic’s largest natural gas business customers and 15 per cent of the mid-sized gas user segment.
Vayu's business development manager Barry Murphy said Northern Ireland represented "a large untapped opportunity to deliver new services to the energy market".
“Vayu will be investing heavily in winning customers by changing the way businesses view their energy-related decisions and empowering customers to become more active in the area of energy procurement and demand management," he said.
“We have established a business model that has worked exceptionally well, creating flexibility for gas and electricity users that wasn’t there previously."
Vayu energy specialist Peter Girvan said: “We see a clear opportunity for businesses in Northern Ireland to gain access to much more competitive prices on the wholesale markets. In particular, we’re seeing significant demand for procurement solutions that combine innovations in risk management with hands on market analysis to minimise energy costs.”
The company which said it provides "100 per cent green electricity" said renewable energy would be "key focus" for its operations in the north. It is licensed to provide provide Power Purchase Agreements in both the Republic and Northern Ireland.
Mr Girvan said that while the north "has an abundant supply of renewable energy resources, only a fraction of these have been harnessed to date so there is enormous potential for development".
Vayu was founded in 2003 and was the first independent supplier to be awarded a gas shipping and supply license in the Republic.
It supplies customers in a variety of sectors, including pharmaceutical, manufacturing, food and beverage, technology and retail.
