LEAP4SME

The LEAP4SME project aims to implement programs that motivate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to carry out energy audits and implement recommended energy-saving measures.

Energy Audit Policies to drive energy efficiency In the Horizon 2020 project "Linking Energy Audit Policies to enhance and support SMEs towards energy efficiency" (LEAP4SME)

The objectives of the EU H2020 project LEAP4SME were

• Improve national and local policies to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take advantage of energy advice and implement the recommended energy saving measures, and
• Tackle the barriers that SMEs face in taking advantage of energy advice.

In a first step of the project, a review of the existing energy consulting programs for SMEs in the project partner countries was carried out to analyze their strengths and weaknesses.

SMEs were also characterized in terms of their energy consumption, size and sector, which formed the starting point for optimizing existing energy consulting programmes in a second step. To this end, all relevant available data on SMEs in Europe was researched, with the result that there is only comparable data for SMEs in the economic sector. Corresponding energy-relevant data on SMEs was not available, even when taking a closer look at the data situation in the individual project partner countries. In order to be able to compare the energy consumption of SMEs in the individual project partner countries, methods were developed to estimate their energy consumption.One method is based on data from the regulatory authorities and the other on the annual energy consumption of large companies that are obliged to carry out energy audits under the Energy Efficiency Act.

The estimation of the energy consumption of SMEs has shown that

• its share of gross inland consumption in the project partner countries varies between 9 % and 29 %,
• the project partners Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia and Italy have energy intensities of over 600 MWh/million euros and
• the project partners Austria, Portugal, UK and Malta have energy intensities of less than 600 MWh/million euros.

Two different scenarios were calculated for Austria, which lead to a similar result: The estimated share of energy consumption by SMEs in gross domestic consumption is between 17 and 21 %.

The report is available for download in English:

https://leap4sme.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/LEAP4SME-D2.1-SME-MAPPING.pdf

The country analyses and recommendations for the individual project partner countries have been clearly summarized in individual fact sheets: leap4sme.eu/results/publications/.

Further project reports and results are published on the project website.

Client / Funding Provider	H2020 Projekt der Europäische Kommission
Project management	Mag. Petra Lackner DI Gabriele Brandl
Projectteam	DI (FH) Nicole Hartl Karin Hauer Mag. DI Konstantin Kulterer DI Stefan Reuter
Projectpartner	Italien: ENEA – Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile Portugal: ADENE – Agência para a energia Österreich: AEA – Österreichische Energieagentur, Austrian Energy Agency Griechenland: CRES – Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving Slowakei: SIEA – Slovenská inovačná a energetická agentúra Kroatien: EIHP – Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar Malta: EWA – Energy and Water Agency Polen: KAPE – Krajowa Agencja Poszanowania Energii Großbritannien: EST – Energy Saving Trust Belgien: Revolve Media
Projekt duration	September 2020 to August 2023