GEAR@SME

The new EU-wide Online Portal energyefficientsme.eu is being launched in July 2022, developed under the EU-funded GEAR@SME project. The portal provides support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to collectively take action to eventually exploit multiple benefits from energy efficiency measures.

With more than 25 million SMEs in Europe, this sector represents an enormous energy-saving – potential.       SMEs are often prevented from implementing energy audits and energy savings measures due to a lack of expertise, time, and capital, but also lack of dedicated support.

The Energy Efficient SME portal has been designed to unlock this untapped potential. The portal offers a range of support, including a handbook, training materials and tools, as well as inspiring best practice case studies from selected countries in Europe. Answers can be found to general questions such as “Where do I start?”, to more detailed questions such as “What to pay attention to when contracting energy service suppliers for projects in my energy collective?” The platform also offers an online community of practitioners with opportunities to exchange Q&A and other information among relevant actors and stakeholders.

“We are launching this portal at a time when rising energy prices are putting a heavy burden on businesses across Europe,” says the project lead, Karina Veum from TNO, a renowned Dutch research organisation. “We hope that our tools and community of practitioners will help SMEs to better identify and implement cost-effective energy saving measures in their companies.” She adds: “Our portal is especially useful for companies that would like to save energy collectively, but don’t yet know how”.

The portal has been developed within the GEAR@SME’s pilots in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Romania. Key to the GEAR@SME methodology is a collective approach to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in SMEs. They are guided through the process by someone they already know and trust – a so-called Trusted Partner. This role can be taken by any organization that already has a supporting relationship with clusters of SMEs.

Link to the Online Portal: www.energyefficientsme.eu

Keywords

energy efficiency, SME, energy collectives, trusted partners, cases