Firmus Energy is an energy company based in Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Bord Gáis Cucerdea (, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bord (''Bord''), Cucerdea, and Șeulia de Mureș (''Oláhsályi''). The commune is located in the southwestern part of ...

had a plan to develop the gas market in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. A pipeline from

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 28,141 at the 2021 census. It is County Antrim's oldest t ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

was completed in October 2004 and now serves Coolkeeragh Power Station. A second pipeline, known as the south–north pipeline, was commissioned in October 2006. It runs from Gormanston in the Republic of Ireland to join the Carrick/Derry pipeline near Antrim creating an all-Ireland network and providing redundancy in case of problems with either Scotland-Northern Ireland pipeline or the Scotland - Republic of Ireland interconnectors. The

Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

awarded Bord Gáis a licence to supply homes and businesses in the towns and cities near the two pipelines - Antrim,

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated ...

Banbridge Banbridge ( ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. It is in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iveagh Upper ...

Craigavon Craigavon ( ) is a town in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement, begun in 1965, and named after the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland: James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be the heart of ...

Limavady Limavady (; ) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying east of Derry and southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 11,279 people at the 2021 Census. In the 40 years between 1 ...

and

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

- where the local

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...

of Bord Gáis use the trading name of Firmus Energy. On 1 December 2005, Firmus launched their first supply in Northern Ireland, to the large

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

tyre factory in Ballymena. On 25 April 2006 firmus connected its first residential customers in Derry. The decision to award this licence was widely disputed and Phoenix Gas, the incumbent in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and the surrounding area, launched a judicial review of the decision to award it to BGE, they claimed that it was more of a political decision and they claimed that Bord Gáis will lose a significant amount of money and that the business will be loss making. Firmus Energy is also competing to supply gas and electricity to large industrial and commercial customers across Northern Ireland. They supply gas in

to Northern Ireland's largest bakery,

Allied Bakeries An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

and have been awarded an electricity supply licence. On 30 March 2009, the company said it had signed up

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

s manufacturer Norbev as its first electricity customer. In the autumn of 2009, a consortium of Bord Gáis Energy (Northern Ireland) and Storengy, a company of

GDF Suez Engie SA (stylised in all caps as ENGIE) is a French multinational electric utility company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie. Its activities cover electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear power, renewable energy ...

, undertook a

seismic survey Reflection seismology (or seismic reflection) is a method of exploration geophysics that uses the principles of seismology to estimate the properties of the Earth's subsurface from reflected seismic waves. The method requires a controlled seismi ...

of land in the

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

area to determine if there are

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

layers that could be used for the storage of natural gas. The survey confirmed the existence of the salt and a test borehole will be dug in Spring 2011 to confirm it has suitable mechanical properties. In October 2010, Firmus Energy extended competition in the Northern Ireland electricity market in parts of the

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

sector by offering a discount on some current Northern Ireland Electricity tariffs to members of the

Ulster Farmers' Union The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) is a member organisation/industry association for farmers in Northern Ireland. The UFU was formed in 1918 and currently claims over 12,500 members. Presidency Previous Presidents of the UFU included Basil Brooke, ...

. In January 2011, Firmus Energy launched an offer for domestic gas customers in and around Belfast, claiming to be 'at least 7.5% cheaper than Phoenix'. In December 2013, Bord Gáis Éireann agreed to sell Firmus to a

Centrica Centrica plc is a British  multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers ...

-led consortium, with Firmus eventually being taken on by Icon Infrastructure. In January 2019, Equitix bought Firmus from iCON infrastructure.

References

{{Energy in the United Kingdom, companies Utilities of the United Kingdom Oil and gas companies of Northern Ireland Brands of Northern Ireland