Energy & Cleantech Forum 2025

Summary

The request sought detailed cost breakdowns, attendance data, and strategic documents for the Energy & Cleantech Forum 2025. The Department for Enterprise disclosed the total event cost, funding source, and attendee demographics, noting that specific staff time was not recorded.

Key Facts

• The total cost of the Energy & Cleantech Forum 2025 was £2,830.
• The event was funded entirely from the Business Isle of Man revenue budget with no external grants.
• 71 individuals signed up to attend, comprising 50 private sector representatives and 13 government officers.
• Specific staff time spent coordinating the event was not recorded as it occurred within standard working hours.
• Travel and accommodation costs of £1,200 were incurred for two attendees from Cambridge Cleantech.

Data Disclosed

• £2,830
• £425
• £1,205
• £1,200
• 71
• 13
• 5
• 50
• 3
• 2025-11-05
• 2025-11-19

Original Request

Please provide the following information regarding the Energy & Cleantech Forum 2025 held by Business Isle of Man: Total cost breakdown of the event, including: Venue hire, catering, speaker fees, travel/accommodation, marketing, and staff time. Any public funds, grants, or departmental budgets used to support the event. Attendance data, including: Total number of attendees. Breakdown of attendees by category (e.g. government staff inc statutory boards and agencies, private sector, NGOs, media). Number of Isle of Man Government employees who attended, including departmental affiliations. Internal planning documents and communications, including: The strategic purpose and expected outcomes of the Forum. Criteria used to select speakers, panelists, and breakout session topics. Post-event evaluations, including: Any internal or external assessments of the event's impact. Metrics used to measure success (e.g. business uptake of schemes, emissions reductions, investment generated). Feedback received from attendees, speakers, or stakeholders. Details of any business support awarded or committed as a direct result of the Forum, including: Applications or approvals under the Business Emissions Saving Scheme (BESS) linked to Forum attendance. Follow-up actions or projects initiated by Government or Manx Utilities based on Forum discussions. Evidence of public benefit, including: Any quantifiable outcomes or policy changes resulting from the Forum. How the event aligns with statutory duties or strategic objectives of Business Isle of Man or the Department for Enterprise.

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Freedom of Information Co-ordinator 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686400) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

Our ref: 5063449 19 November 2025

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 5 November 2025, which states:

"Please provide the following information regarding the Energy & Cleantech Forum 2025 held by Business Isle of Man:

Total cost breakdown of the event, including:

Venue hire, catering, speaker fees, travel/accommodation, marketing, and staff time.

Any public funds, grants, or departmental budgets used to support the event.

Attendance data, including:

Total number of attendees.

Breakdown of attendees by category (e.g. government staff inc statutory boards and agencies, private sector, NGOs, media).

Number of Isle of Man Government employees who attended, including departmental affiliations.

Internal planning documents and communications, including:

The strategic purpose and expected outcomes of the Forum.

Criteria used to select speakers, panelists, and breakout session topics.

Post-event evaluations, including:

Any internal or external assessments of the event's impact.

Metrics used to measure success (e.g. business uptake of schemes, emissions reductions, investment generated).

Feedback received from attendees, speakers, or stakeholders.

Details of any business support awarded or committed as a direct result of the Forum, including:

Applications or approvals under the Business Emissions Saving Scheme (BESS) linked to Forum attendance.

Follow-up actions or projects initiated by Government or Manx Utilities based on Forum discussions.

Evidence of public benefit, including:

Any quantifiable outcomes or policy changes resulting from the Forum.

How the event aligns with statutory duties or strategic objectives of Business Isle of Man or the Department for Enterprise."

Our response to your request is as follows:

1. Total cost breakdown of the event, including: Venue hire, catering, speaker fees, travel/accommodation, marketing, and staff time.

Energy and Cleantech Forum Total cost: £2,830

This is broken down as follows;

• Venue hire £425

• Catering £1,205

• Cambridge Cleantech attendance (travel & accommodation for two people) £1,200.
As part of the Business Isle of Man Cambridge Cleantech membership agreement, they agree to visit the island once per year. This is usually aligned with the Energy and Cleantech Forum.

• There were no additional costs for the event.

• The event was coordinated by officers within their standard working hours and alongside other tasks and responsibilities. As such, the specific time spent on this event was not recorded.

1. Any public funds, grants, or departmental budgets used to support the event.

The event was funded from the Business Isle of Man revenue budget. No additional grants or external public funds were used.

1. Attendance data, including:

2. Total number of attendees.

3. Breakdown of attendees by category (e.g. government staff inc statutory boards and agencies, private sector, NGOs, media).
4. Number of Isle of Man Government employees who attended, including departmental affiliations.

Total signed up to attend: 71 individuals (including facilitators and speakers)

Breakdown:
• Isle of Man Government officers: 13
• Manx Utilities: 5
• Private sector: 50
• Non-affiliated individuals: 3

1. Internal planning documents and communications, including: The strategic purpose and expected outcomes of the Forum.

Cleantech is a priority area for Business Isle of Man. The 2025 Programme states:

“Continue to nurture and support the existing Cleantech industry alongside attracting new and innovative businesses to the Island, all with a collective vision of reaching our net zero goals. This includes building and strengthening relationships and encouraging collaboration within the public and private sectors to create a community of likeminded forward thinkers.”

(Business Isle of Man Programme 2025, p.17)

The Programme also committed to:

“Business Isle of Man to host the annual Isle of Man Energy and Cleantech Forum Event in Q4 2025 building on the success of past years.”

The Forum aimed to:

• Provide a platform for discussion on the technical challenges and opportunities associated with the Island’s energy transition.

• Foster collaboration between government, utilities, and private sector stakeholders.

• Encourage discussion and gather feedback through breakout sessions to inform future strategy.

The following is the internal summary of the aims for the forum:

Pre-event Promotion

About:

This year’s Energy & Cleantech Forum will deliver essential updates on the Isle of Man’s energy strategy and progress in the sector, with a strong focus on energy efficiency, innovation, and practical solutions to support the transition to a sustainable future.

This forum is ideal for businesses of all sizes, from those looking to improve energy efficiency and reduce their carbon footprint to those eager to innovate in the cleantech space. Whether they’re a startup, SME, or large corporation, this event offers valuable insights and opportunities to drive their sustainability initiatives forward.

Pre-event Aims;

“Ensuring affordable, secure and sustainable electricity is delivered on Island across the energy transition will need the support of the business community on Island. Innovations in heating, transport and smart technologies can help businesses reduce their energy costs in these areas but it can also help to optimise the way we use our electricity across the day to limit peaks in demand. When we combine these solutions with both storage and renewable energy, this ultimately helps to minimise future investments in infrastructure which also helps us save money on our electricity bills. Making smart decisions now can influence our future.”

Aims for session:

1. Help businesses identify how they can directly benefit from the energy transition.

2. Help businesses understand electricity demand profiles on the Isle of Man and the requirements for managing this.

3. Identify smart solutions which support our holistic future vision.

4. Identify barriers and incentives that can help us move forwards with these solutions.

5. How can we all work together to deliver solutions maximising the benefit for all.

Break-out sessions:

Demand Side Management

The IPCC estimates that over 50% reduction in energy emissions can be achieved in efficiency measures alone. Achieving this means we actively try to utilise natural resources when they are available and actively making choices to limit our energy consumption at times when resources are limited. In energy terms this is known as demand side management (DSM). The Isle of Man’s current electricity demand profile matches consumer behaviour for example we see lowest demand at night when our residents are asleep and surges in demand in the evening when people finishing work; summer demand is also always much lower than winter demand because we have less heating and lighting needs. This is problematic when the cheapest energy sources available to most residents produce most of the power in the middle of the day in summer months. To maintain a reliable power system, we have to plan for these surges which means installing more infrastructure than we actually need most of the

time. This leads time inefficiencies both in terms of investment in infrastructure and in terms of energy output.

An ideal managed demand curve would see no peaks in demand at all and making better use of renewable electricity when it is available. As this relies on changing consumer behaviour to some extent there has been limited success in this area globally, but technology innovations may mean we can address DSM without any inconvenience to consumers. There are opportunities for the Isle of Man to become world leaders if we can set out a credible strategy to flatten our demand profile. Better use of our energy resources as an Island means more efficient power and savings for energy bills.

The DSM Group will discuss options which may encourage better use of energy on Island. This could include a mix of new technologies such as smart appliances, AI and batteries, new options to encourage changes in behaviour such as tariffs and education campaigns to increase awareness. Can businesses work together to make the Island world leaders in this sector? Are there any barriers currently to any of these options and what incentives would help to move forwards?

Renewable Heating

The highest emissions from business on Island all relate to heating and hot water. Emissions from Electricity are instead covered under Energy Supply and it is the responsibility of Manx Utilities to achieve 100% emissions reduction in this area by 2030. Achieving this will require investment in new technologies and the roadmap shared earlier in the morning shows the possible path to achieve this.

Renewable heating can be a significant saving for businesses on Island as new technologies such as heat pumps use electricity to take energy from the surroundings, resulting in efficiencies of >300% compared to 90% in traditional fossil fuel boilers where all of the energy inputs come from the fuel burned. However, these new technologies require upfront investment, and the uptake has been slow on the Isle of Man even though customers may save money against traditional gas heating over the life of the installation. In addition, electric heating, which is in use across the demand peaks, means additional investment is required in electricity infrastructure to ensure demand is met… unless we can identify innovations in operating our new heating solutions. Flexible heating tariffs are already available from Manx Utilities, but customers want warm homes when they come home from work. Can businesses also help Island residents with the investment hurdle for new heat solutions and provide heat for the community?

The Renewable Heating group will discuss options which can:

a) avoid, or limit electricity demand across the evening peaks when heating is also needed the most within a home or within a business.

b) avoid or limit upfront investment for domestic customers by providing heat at community scale.

c) Can renewable electricity and storage help to support electric-district heating as a community energy hub?

Sustainable Transport

Innovations in electric vehicles means almost all types of vehicles (including HGVs) in the future can be powered by electricity. Electric vehicles can significantly reduce our energy use as an Island; 85% of energy used in an EV can be converted into motion vs. 20-30% from a traditional internal combustion engine. However, charging vehicles is typically slower than filling a car with fuel and fast charging solutions significantly increase demand on the system. Manx Utilities has a tariff structure which encourages overnight charging outside of peak times, but this may still lead to future demand spikes as EVs are charged, just at different times. Where services or businesses use vehicle fleets overnight charging may also not be practical and having fast-charging hubs which can charge vehicles in the middle of the day may be preferable. Currently, locating these hubs on Island is also challenging given the space required vs. the need to have a strong grid connection.

This also presents a challenge if we want to minimise peaks in demand and limit investment on the network. Are there options that allow for fast charging solutions without a strong grid connection and without impacting our demand profile?

The Sustainable Transport group will discuss options which can enable vehicles to be charged rapidly at any time of the day without requiring additional investment to support demand. Can this be combined with renewable electricity and storage to avoid impacts to the power system? Where is the best place for charging hubs on the Island if all of our public vehicle fleet is electrified in future? Are there any barriers to these solutions and what support is required to help overcome these barriers.

1. Criteria used to select speakers, panellists, and breakout session topics.

The agenda was developed collaboratively by Business Isle of Man, DEFA, and Manx Utilities.

Selection criteria included:

• Strategic relevance to the energy transition and Cleantech objectives.
• Technical expertise and ability to present evidence-based insights
• Innovation showcase
• Practical application

Breakout sessions were designed to encourage stakeholder engagement and gather actionable feedback.

The overall structure of the Forum supported Business Isle of Man’s Cleantech objectives, with a focus on fostering collaboration between government, industry, and the business community.

1. Post-event evaluations, including:

2. Any internal or external assessments of the event's impact.

3. Metrics used to measure success (e.g. business uptake of schemes, emissions reductions, investment generated).
4. Feedback received from attendees, speakers, or stakeholders.

• Initial anecdotal feedback was positive, with strong engagement during breakout sessions.

• An attendee survey is currently live to gather structured feedback.

• Post event review meeting with DEFA and MU is scheduled later in November.

1. Details of any business support awarded or committed as a direct result of the Forum, including: Applications or approvals under the Business Emissions Saving Scheme (BESS) linked to Forum attendance.

The forum included an update on the BESS scheme to inform the construction sector working in this area of the available schemes, these companies can assist to raise the awareness of the schemes but are unlikely to be the applicants of the scheme. Therefore, it would be difficult evidence a direct link to applications from the forum.

At time of writing, no business support has been awarded or committed as a direct result of the forum.

1. Follow-up actions or projects initiated by Government or Manx Utilities based on Forum discussions.

The purpose of the breakout sessions in the afternoon was to gather ideas and feedback that will inform future strategy development, particularly around demand- side management and infrastructure resilience. This is an area still in development.

1. Evidence of public benefit, including: Any quantifiable outcomes or policy changes resulting from the Forum.

The Forum delivered public benefit by:

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