EPS Corp. announced an agreement with the Energias de Portugal to provide its software to the utility’s customers in Portugal and Spain.

EDP already provides energy distribution and efficiency services for customers. EPS’s xChange Point program will be used by EDP to offer its business customers a real-time energy management system that includes both software and hardware that is sold as a service.

“The opportunity that this collaboration with EDP represents is very exciting,” Jay Zoellner, CEO of EPS Corp., said in a statement. “Providing the benefits of xChange Point to a leading energy services provider for the European and South American energy markets demonstrates that the need for effective sustainability solutions is global in nature, and it is an important step in our international expansion.”

The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company, which has been around since 2001, has specialized in monitoring and curbing power consumption at industrial sites and, in particular, at food and beverage facilities, such as breweries or dairies. At one dairy, the company was able to cut electrical consumption by 22.6 percent, Zoellner told Greentech Media last year. EPS has raised $30 million as of mid-2009.

The full-service spectrum allows ESP to let customers know what upgrades can be made to increase efficiency or reduce carbon footprints. Energy savings services continue to be big business, despite the economic woes of the past few years.

A recent Johnson Controls study found that cost savings were the most important reason for companies to undertake efficiency upgrades, with 50 percent of more than 1,400 commercial respondents saying they were planning to set aside money for efficiency programs over the next year.

Energy efficiency is also a busy space. Besides major players like Johnson Controls, Siemens and Honeywell, there are a host of other efficiency and control companies springing up (and potentially ripe for acquisition), including Agilwaves, BuildingIQ, Adura Technologies, SureGrid and others.

But it’s not just the prospect of cost savings that is driving efficiency. Another recent report by Johnson Controls that looked at the international market found that legislation was a key driver for Europeans, which makes sense since Europe leads the world in terms of energy and climate legislation. The majority of respondents to the survey also expected energy prices to creep back up in 2010, providing even more motivation for reducing consumption.

Companies are now looking for fully integrated and automated solutions to see less than three-year returns on their efficiency investments, which is exactly what drew EDP to xChange Point, according to Luis Manuel, Executive Director of EDP Inovação.

The agreement between EPS and EDP is not limited to Spain and Portugal; there is also a possibility for expansion into Brazil.