The expansion of Certa’s supply and delivery service follows exceptional demand for the new biofuel, known as EcoMax, which enables households who currently use liquid fuel boilers to lower their home heating carbon emissions by up to 20%.

EcoMax comprises a blend of 20% HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), a fossil-free fuel made from waste plant matter, and 80% kerosene. Householders can use it instead of regular home heating oil directly without any need to replace or modify their boilers.

Certa first made their new hybrid biofuel available to customers in south and west Dublin and in north county Kildare last winter. Householders in these areas were supplied from the Certa depot in Tallaght which acted as a local distribution hub.

Certa’s decision to fully expand the supply and distribution of EcoMax into counties Dublin, Kildare and Louth is part of its strategy to deliver cleaner and progressive energy solutions to domestic customers nationwide.

Certa currently supplies over 265 million litres of home heating fuel to customers across Ireland each year. The average household consumes between 1,000 and 2,000 litres of home heating fuel per annum.

714,000 Irish householders currently use liquid fuel boilers to heat their homes, including 45,841 households in Dublin, 30,564 households in Kildare, and 20,801 households in Louth. Kerosene is the most common fuel used in home heating systems in Ireland where the residential sector currently accounts for 10% of national emissions.

Counties Dublin, Kildare and Louth are the first counties in Ireland to benefit from Certa’s expansion strategy. The supply and delivery of Certa’s lower carbon home heating biofuel is due to be extended across its national network of 26 home heating depots during 2026.

Orla Stevens, Managing Director, Certa Ireland said ‘Certa is delighted to expand its operations across counties Dublin, Kildare and Louth and to make it easier for tens of thousands of households in these counties to transition to this new hybrid home heating solution and to reduce their carbon footprint.

“Certa is especially proud to be the first fuel supplier in Ireland to give Irish householders the choice of switching to a new lower-carbon fuel for their home heating and to empower them to make positive and impactful environmental changes in their own homes with zero disruption to the household”.

Certa’s strategy to expand its lower carbon offering into the home heating market follows its success in introducing HVO to 25 of its forecourts to date. These forecourt sites have already enabled thousands of diesel drivers to make the switch to HVO as a renewable biofuel and to reduce their carbon emissions by up 90%.

Certa customers across counties Dublin, Kildare and Louth are already familiar with HVO which is available alongside other fuels at the Certa forecourts in Liffey Valley, Finglas (Clearwater), Dundrum, Clarehall, Tallaght and Greenogue in county Dublin; Maynooth in county Kildare, and Dundalk in county Louth.

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Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is produced from waste plant matter and can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without any need for engine modifications to help motorists lower their carbon emissions by up to 90%.

Demand for HVO is being driven by diesel drivers who want to ‘go green’ but who have put off switching to an electric vehicle (EV) for a variety of reasons, including the cost of buying an EV, the lack of charging infrastructure across the country, and not having their own driveway or off-street parking where they can install a home charger.

Certa is expanding its HVO offering at a rapid pace and its new HVO fuel site in Portlaoise, which opens to the public this week, is the 25^th such site to open over the past 18 months across 17 counties, marking a significant milestone for the company and the fuel industry in Ireland.

Certa opened Ireland’s first fully fledged HVO fuel station in Liffey Valley in late 2023 at a cost of €1 million. 15 of the 25 HVO fuel sites that Certa currently operates have opened over the past eight months and the company has plans to open five more HVO fuel sites over the coming months.

Certa operates a total of 54 forecourt sites and is now the largest supplier of HVO to motorists across Ireland. Demand for the renewable fuel has also been helped by Certa’s decision to provide the new HVO pumps alongside its diesel and petrol pumps. The fuel is distinguished by a pink nozzle to stand out from the traditional black diesel and green petrol nozzles.

Orla Stevens, Managing Director, Certa Ireland said:

“Certa is delighted to open our 25^th HVO fuel site in Portlaoise this week and to continue leading the way in making HVO more widely available to motorists across Ireland. Our goal is to make it easy for motorists to transition to HVO as a renewable alternative to diesel to help them to lower their carbon emissions.

‘Diesel and petrol cars accounts for 84% (2.14 million) of the cars on Irish roads. 17% of all   new cars sold in Ireland so far this year were diesel. Diesel drivers are holding off on making the switch to EV driving for a variety of reasons. HVO provides an alternative solution and diesel drivers are switching to this biofuel where it is available to them.

“The demand for HVO has grown as we have opened each new HVO fuel site across our network and our plan is to complete the upgrading of our entire network into next year as we continue our journey towards a net zero future.”

The Certa and Emo forecourts selling HVO include Liffey Valley, Finglas (Clearwater), Dundrum, Clarehall, Tallaght and Greenogue in Dublin; Lee Tunnel in Cork, Corofin in Clare, Letterkenny in Donegal, Ballinasloe in Galway, Maynooth in Kildare, Killarney in Kerry, Portlaoise in Laois, Moyne in Longford, Dundalk in Louth, Ballyhaunis in Mayo, Trim in Meath, Kilcormac in Offaly, Clonmel in Tipperary, Waterford city in Waterford, Athlone and Mullingar in Westmeath, and Castlebridge, Gorey and Wexford town in Wexford.

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The company, which is part of DCC plc, has said that its new fuel could enable each of the 700,000 Irish households who currently use liquid fuel heaters to lower their home heating carbon emissions by up to 20%. Ireland’s residential sector currently accounts for 10% of national emissions.

The newly launched biofuel comprises a 20%/80% blend of HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), which is produced from waste plant matter, and kerosene. Householders can use this instead of home heating oil directly without any need to replace or modify their boilers.

The new lower carbon fuel will be rolled out across Certa’s national network of 23 home heating depots, starting this week with its depot in Tallaght which will supply customers in south and west Dublin and north county Kildare.

Kerosene is the most common fuel used in home heating systems in Ireland. Certa supplies almost 100,000 customers with 265 million litres of home heating fuel each year. The average household consumes between 1,000 and 2,000 litres of home heating fuel per annum.

The new product launch will be supported by a full marketing campaign across print, digital and out of home to promote and further encourage customers to switch to the new blended biofuel.

Orla Stevens, Managing Director, Certa Ireland said:

“Our goal at Certa is to make it easy for customers to transition to cleaner energy solutions that reduce their carbon footprint. We are leading the way in introducing solutions that are accessible and affordable. Switching to this lower carbon HVO-Kerosene fuel is easy. There is no requirement to upgrade your home heating boiler and it can be done with zero disruption to the household”.

“We are delighted to be the first fuel supplier in Ireland to launch a new lower-carbon fuel for home heating. We will empower our customers to make positive and impactful environmental changes in their own homes and to help Ireland achieve its longer-term ambition of net zero by 2050.”

The launch follows Certa’s success in attracting diesel drivers to switch to HVO to reduce their carbon emissions by up to 90%. Last year, it became the first fuel operator to open a fully-fledged HVO fuel station in Liffey Valley and has since become the first to offer HVO at 10 of its forecourts. One in five of Certa’s network of 49 unmanned, pay@pump forecourts now offers HVO alongside other fuels.

Certa’s commitment to making new cleaner energy solutions more accessible and affordable has also led to its acquisition of leading solar and renewable energy specialists Alternative Energy Ireland. AEI offers Ireland’s only cashback guarantee if the solar system does not perform as promised, providing customers with financial compensation for the amount of the loss concerned.

Certa has also helped a growing number of businesses and events to lower their emissions and to transition to HVO as a renewable fuel, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), John Sisk & Son Ltd., Dublin Airport, Dublin Port, The National Ploughing Championships, the Irish Open and Bloom.

The company is one of the first HVO suppliers in Ireland to be awarded International Sustainability Carbon Certification (ISCC) which provides full transparency and traceability throughout the supply chain. This certification enables Certa to create and assign Proof of Sustainability (POS) certification to the businesses that it supplies with HVO.

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One in five of Certa’s network of 49 unmanned, pay@pump forecourts now offers HVO alongside other fuels as Certa continues to make the biofuel more widely available to motorists seeking a renewable alternative to diesel.

Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is produced from waste plant matter and can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without any need for vehicle or engine modifications to help motorists lower their carbon emissions by up to 90%.

Last November, Certa began the process of upgrading its network to make HVO available alongside diesel and unleaded petrol and it has achieved the milestone of opening its 10^th HVO site after introducing HVO pumps at its forecourt in Corofin in county Clare.

HVO is now available at the Certa forecourts in Liffey Valley, Dundrum, Clarehall and Finglas (Clearwater) in Dublin, Lee Tunnel in Cork, Ballyhaunis in Mayo, Maynooth in Kildare, Trim in Meath, Moyne in Longford and Corofin in Clare.

Certa has provided the new HVO pumps alongside diesel and petrol pumps and the fuel is distinguished through the use of a pink nozzle to stand out from the traditional black diesel and green petrol nozzles.

Orla Stevens, Managing Director, Certa Ireland said:

‘Certa is leading the way in making HVO more widely available to motorists across Ireland. Our goal is to make it easy for motorists to transition to HVO as a renewable alternative to diesel to help them to lower their carbon emissions.

‘Our success in upgrading our network to offer HVO at 10 sites is an important milestone for Certa and our customers. The demand for HVO has grown as we have opened each new site, and our plan is to complete the upgrading of our entire network into next year as we continue our journey towards a net-zero future’.

Certa has also helped a growing number of businesses and events to decarbonise and to transition to HVO as a renewable fuel, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), John Sisk & Son Ltd., Dublin Airport, Dublin Port, The National Ploughing Championship, the Irish Open and Bloom.

Certa has already transitioned its entire fleet of 100 delivery vehicles from diesel to HVO in line with its commitment to reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 or sooner. It is also installing Solar PV panels across its network to enable its forecourts to generate their own power from solar energy.

Certa was one of the first HVO suppliers in Ireland to be awarded International Sustainability Carbon Certification (ISCC) which provides full transparency and traceability throughout the supply chain. This certification enables Certa to create and assign Proof of Sustainability (POS) certification to the businesses that it supplies with HVO.

Certa’s work to make HVO more accessible and more widely available to motorists and businesses was also recognised when it received the prestigious Green Award at the 2024 UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors (UKIFDA) Awards.

Photos Credits: Sean Brosnan.

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Congratulations to Orla Stevens on being appointed managing directors of Certa. Last time we spoke for IF&CR was in August 2023, when you were Commercial Director for Emo Retail which is of course, part of Certa.

After just two and a half years with the company you have been promoted to MD – how did that transpire? What was your reaction?

“Andrew Graham, our Managing Director, was promoted as Managing Director of Mobility at DCC Energy. That created a vacancy unexpectedly. Even though I have only been working with Certa for two and a half years I went for it and was pleasantly surprised to be selected as its new Managing Director. I’m delighted, particularly by the reaction from Certa colleagues, both male and female, who have said that they have never worked for a female Managing Director before and that they were excited to do so, which was wonderful to hear because this was something that I had not considered” Orla told IF&CR.

Certa is a DCC  plc company, a global supplier of energy with operations across Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe – it’s both an exciting and a challenging time to be leading an energy company – what will be your short term, mid-term and long term goals?

“My short-term goal is to focus on getting to know the business as its Managing Director. I know the commercial side having been Commercial Director, but the short term is about understanding how everything works from the Managing Director’s perspective and getting to know my colleagues in that capacity. My goal in the mid and long term is to deliver our energy transition programme, working with the Certa team to understand what our customers need and to support them in transitioning from fossil fuels to low carbon solutions that are in line with DCC plc’s expectations and ambitions.”

Certa formed in September 2022 when Emo Oil, Campus Oil and Jones Oil, all owned by DCC plc, rebranded under one name. You were closely involved in this process. What are your memories of that time?

“My memory of that time is how we worked to be respectful of the legacy of the three businesses, recognising the wealth of experience and knowledge that our colleagues working in these businesses had to offer. That was really important to us, to maintain the trust of the old brands and to demonstrate to our customers that they were still dealing with the same people that they knew and trusted for years. One of the ways we did that was to use our delivery drivers and those working at our call centre in our rebrand campaign. That was a powerful way to communicate our message and to bring people together.

“My standout memory is how hard everyone worked to deliver the new Certa brand by the 1^st September deadline, which included rebranding our depots, trucks, and website that took a huge effort. We wanted to embed the Certa values across the company and the way we did that was to get every member of the business involved. Everyone was invited to brand immersion workshops, and we got to hear from everyone, to hear their hopes, their concerns and their ideas. It was a massive company wide effort.”

The company employs 370 people nationwide. That’s a huge responsibility. Have you got a good team around you?

“Yes, I have a great team around me. For the two and a half years that I was Commercial Director I enjoyed a strong working relationship with the Senior Leadership Team as one of  its peers. As a team we came through a lot in terms of rebranding to Certa and acquiring new businesses. There is a strong bond between the team already and that experience means that I don’t have to get to know new people in that way. People work every hard at Certa and they pull out all the stops to deliver. It is a very, very strong team that I’m proud to lead.”

Throughout your exciting career to date, you have held senior positions at SSE Airtricity, Bank of Ireland, Vodafone, O2 and Car Trawler. What did you learn from each position that you now bring to the table at Certa?

“That it’s all about people and that it’s not about your position in the market or your products. These things are very important, but ultimately it is about the people in the business and their relationships with each other and their relationships with customers. I’m fortunate to have worked in different industries and some great businesses, and I’ve learned that you can only get things done through people and by offering great customer service. People buy our products and services because of the good relationship they have with us as customers, and you always need to look at things from the customers perspective.

“We talk a lot in Certa about our health and safety values. We put a lot of stock on psychological safety, speaking up, and saying if you see things that are potentially unsafe. If every other company had the same ethos it would be fantastic. Feeling safe, speaking up, and doing the right thing are all elements that add up to a great culture in any business.

Certa became the first fuel operator in Ireland to open a fully-fledged Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel station and to make the renewable alternative to diesel more widely available to motorists – an exciting development which we have covered at length in IF&CR.  As Certa is currently upgrading its forecourt network to offer HVO at all sites alongside other fuels, can you tell me more about how that is progressing?

“The great thing about HVO is that it can be used as a direct replacement for diesel without any need for vehicle or engine modifications to help motorists lower their carbon emissions by up to 90%. Drivers understand that it is a drop-in product. Our ambition is to make HVO available at every Certa site and we hope to reach 12 sites in the coming months. Demand is continuing to rise as we introduce HVO to more sites. We have also partnered with other consumer brands to promote HVO as a quick and cost-effective way for motorists to lower their emissions.”

Certa is certainly a ‘going places’ company. It’s not just about the forecourt sector –  Certa has also helped a growing number of businesses and events to lower their emissions and to transition to HVO as a renewable fuel, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), John Sisk & Son Ltd., Dublin Airport, Dublin Port, The National Ploughing Championship, the Irish Open, Electric Picnic and Bloom. Can you tell me more about this side of the company – and the plans for the future?

“Certa is a leader in the renewable sector and we want to put cleaner energy into our customer’s power. We are constantly working to bring the best solutions to businesses, whether that is HVO or solar energy. The beauty of HVO is that it can immediately help to lower carbon emissions.  It is the ideal solution for any company with an ESG mandate that is looking for a solution that they can implement immediately. HVO can be used to power their fleet, machinery and equipment and events, or to provide a reliable back-up to power everything from office buildings to data centres.”

 The acquisition of Alternative Energy Ireland – that was a very exciting development at the time, and not Certa  is rolling out a plan that will enable its entire network of 49 forecourts to generate their own power from solar energy following its acquisition of renewable energy specialists Alternative Energy Ireland (AEI). Can you tell me more about this development and the move towards solar energy?

“We are continuing to install Solar PV panels at our forecourts as part of our commitment to reducing our carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 or sooner. Our new forecourt in Liffey Valley, for example, has 66 Solar PV panels to help power the site, including its carwash and two EV fast chargers with speeds of up to 180 KWh, saving an estimated 7 tonnes of carbon a year. In addition, any new dealer who joins the Emo network will have the opportunity to power their forecourt with high quality Solar PV panels to help reduce their running costs and to lower their carbon emissions.”

To some degree, it’s about ‘changing hearts and minds’ and Certa will play a vital part in the transition strategy for the whole of Irish society – that must feel like both a very worthwhile enterprise – and also a huge responsibility. Have you got a new marketing and communications strategy underway?

“Certa is proud to lead the energy transition and proud of our record of delivering energy, power, transport and heating solutions to our customers for over 35 years. We have a dedicated renewables team within our marketing department that is focused on promoting our energy transition programme. Part of their work includes raising awareness about HVO as a renewable fuel and how it can help customers to lower their carbon emissions.

Certa’s vision is to become Ireland’s most exciting energy company, connecting people and businesses to the most progressive energy solutions available. How will you do that?

“By delivering the most innovative energy solutions that are available to customers. Right now, we are focused on making HVO more widely available and enabling Certa’s commercial, industrial and domestic customers to transition to Solar PV to reduce their carbon emission and to lower their energy costs, but we are a future-focused company. One of the benefits of being part of DCC plc is that we have access to the latest technology and best energy solutions as they become available, and we can move quickly to offer these to all of our customers.”

What is your leadership style?

“Certa gets a lot of credit for being a business that genuinely wants to hear peoples’ opinions. Everyone’s opinion counts. No one has a monopoly on the right idea, and I really believe that no one person has all the answers. I have an open, approachable style of leadership and like to ask people what they think and to learn from colleagues around me. I’m transparent and like to roll up my sleeves and to get stuck in. I’m always open to new ideas and to taking time to discuss them with colleagues.”

Tell me a little bit about Orla Stevens?

“I have a husband, four children and a dog so I don’t have a huge amount of time for hobbies, but I do enjoy Pilates and being part of my local choir. I’m not a great singer, but I really like to sing. I take myself off to Pilates and choir two evenings a week and they really help me to relax and to check out of work.”

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