The first project result is the increased institutional capacity of high-energy intensive SMEs service providers, and intermediary/supportive parties in better serving and supporting SMEs along the whole green transition process.

A main focus of the project's first specific objective is the joint mapping and collecting best practices of renewable energy sources (RES) implementation, at the demand and the supply side, to see what a high-energy intensive SME can do and what a service provider can do for a smoother green energy transition. This involves setting up jointly the selection criteria of business level best practices, standardising the interview structure and process, preparing workshops, and other capacity building activities. It also entails conducting interviews and workshops in each partner country, involving both supply- and demand-side intermediary and decision-making actors, and providing the aid and participation of associated partners. Finally, it involves comparing and summarising the results of the good practice interviews and workshops on a country level and a transnational level as well.

This groundwork ties in with the first project result, addressing organisations with increased institutional capacity due to their participation in cooperation activities across the borders, as it supports in the conversion of SMEs in the Danube region with high energy consumption to green energy. As SMEs receive a supportive transformation method, more advanced coordination, and increased institutional capacities at a company level as well, SMEnergy helps shed light on their path to decarbonisation, which is aligned to EU Green Deal policies. It is expected that, by project end, this will not only increase the desire and willingness of companies to switch to green energy sources but will also have a ripple effect due to the capacity development of the institutional actors helping the transition.

Project Results