Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DEESME (DEVELOPING NATIONAL SCHEMES FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN SMES)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-03-01 al 2023-12-31
SMEs have fewer technical, human, and financial resources to improve their energy efficiency, but there is also a lack of prioritisation compared to other, more business-related actions. Barriers have been deeply investigated, including lack of awareness, low capital and difficulty accessing financing, doubts around actual saving potential, and the lack of technical human resources. But the detailed barriers have now been investigated more, and the different views on barriers are still ongoing work in DEESME. So, national schemes provide SMEs with technical resources such as methodologies, best practices, technology inventories, and subsidies. Therefore, DEESME wanted to see the gaps in the national schemes resulting from the problem of barriers not being resolved. To overcome that, DEESME aimed at:
a) Enabling companies to manage the energy transition by taking advantage of multiple benefits and energy management approaches,
b) Supporting the development and implementation of EU policies on energy efficiency in the framework of art. 11 of the EED beyond the project by providing national authorities with guidelines proposals and recommendations on how to strengthen the national schemes and
c) Enhancing the adoption of the DEESME approach by National Authorities beyond the project timeline through the implementation of institutionalisation activities.
DEESME targeted primarily national authorities to address their needs from the incumbent policies and to make them aware of the resources available to empower their schemes under Art. 11 using the multiple benefits approach.
Moreover, it also targeted SMEs to assist them in developing and testing the technical DEESME solutions by organising information and training initiatives, realising energy audits, implementing energy management systems starting from international standards, and adding the multiple-benefit energy efficiency approach.
The importance of energy auditing and energy management systems in European companies comes from the fact that the emissions reduction scenario in the EU requires companies to contribute to the energy transition with a wider vision through managing their energy use.
This is particularly relevant for SMEs, due to their number, energy consumption, and the level of current implementation of energy efficiency measures.
a) Enabling companies to manage the energy transition by taking advantage of multiple benefits and energy management approaches,
b) Supporting the development and implementation of EU policies on energy efficiency in the framework of art. 11 of the EED beyond the project by providing national authorities with guidelines proposals and recommendations on how to strengthen the national schemes and
c) Enhancing the adoption of the DEESME approach by National Authorities beyond the project timeline through the implementation of institutionalisation activities.
DEESME targeted primarily national authorities to address their needs from the incumbent policies and to make them aware of the resources available to empower their schemes under Art. 11 using the multiple benefits approach.
Moreover, it also targeted SMEs to assist them in developing and testing the technical DEESME solutions by organising information and training initiatives, realising energy audits, implementing energy management systems starting from international standards, and adding the multiple-benefit energy efficiency approach.
The importance of energy auditing and energy management systems in European companies comes from the fact that the emissions reduction scenario in the EU requires companies to contribute to the energy transition with a wider vision through managing their energy use.
This is particularly relevant for SMEs, due to their number, energy consumption, and the level of current implementation of energy efficiency measures.
✓To raise awareness among companies of the direct relations between energy efficiency and its multiple benefits, partners have developed and implemented the training course DEESME Approach, explaining the benefits of applying the DEESME MB approach and presenting potential outcome results.
✓ DEESME developed tools, templates, and training materials, the multiple benefits approach to energy auditing and the energy management system supporting the multiple benefits approach, along with training documents on the DEESME approach to energy auditing and energy management.
✓ Partners implemented 42 energy audits, 22 energy management systems based on ISO 50001, and multiple benefits approach in the four DEESME MS, resulting in 100 proposed measures being implemented or to be implemented.
✓ The solutions were tested and resulted in the 100 measures mentioned. The report on best practices shows the best practices that cover a wide area of business domains that include both industrial and service sectors.
✓ 1639 companies were directly involved and contacted, plus 8 networks with 630,000 additional companies.
✓ Key actors have been involved to increase their capacities, and to get from them the recommendations for the policies. The total number of key actors involved was 72, and it included research organisations, companies’ associations, consultants, agencies, chambers, aggregators, and initiatives.
✓ To provide the institutionalisation process with working documents based on real scale and key actors’ points of view, in Italy, Poland and Germany, three workshops with Key actors and companies were organised to test the attractiveness of the DEESME solutions and gather their feedback to provide the DEESME institutionalisation process. In Bulgaria the feedback was gathered through the submission of a questionnaire following a large national event with over 100 participants from state institutions. The consultations were carried out as planned in each of the four implementation countries and yielded some interesting insights.
✓ To involve the NA and/or their implementing agencies of 10 European MS, national legislation and implementing documents were analysed, and questionnaires were filled with the support of NA representatives from the following countries: Austria, Belgium (Walloon region), Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. NA are later involved in two general meetings and per country meetings.
✓ To identify and share best practices from national schemes, EU projects, and other initiatives with NA and to support NA in developing more effective schemes, the generic guidelines and the country specific guidelines have been developed. The generic document includes a set of 55 solution strategies and 50 best practice examples, the national implementation partners adapted this generic guideline for the involved national authorities.
✓ Based on all the insights of the project, general policy recommendations and per-country recommendations have been developed, starting from guidelines, including changes to EED Art. 11 and the recommendations from the key actors.
✓ The countries were involved in the knowledge exchange meeting in WP5 and per – country meetings, exchanges, and direct assistance in WP5. The total number of EU countries involved is 15.
✓ This direct tailored support aimed to offer direct support to the NA and EU level implemented with proposals for modifying existing laws or for making new laws linked to Art 11 implementation.
✓ Communication and exploitation wise, DEESME has achieved huge visibility, with more than 3300 individual downloads of materials and numerous events, workshops and long - established cooperation, which will be further exploited during follow-up project implementation.
✓ DEESME developed tools, templates, and training materials, the multiple benefits approach to energy auditing and the energy management system supporting the multiple benefits approach, along with training documents on the DEESME approach to energy auditing and energy management.
✓ Partners implemented 42 energy audits, 22 energy management systems based on ISO 50001, and multiple benefits approach in the four DEESME MS, resulting in 100 proposed measures being implemented or to be implemented.
✓ The solutions were tested and resulted in the 100 measures mentioned. The report on best practices shows the best practices that cover a wide area of business domains that include both industrial and service sectors.
✓ 1639 companies were directly involved and contacted, plus 8 networks with 630,000 additional companies.
✓ Key actors have been involved to increase their capacities, and to get from them the recommendations for the policies. The total number of key actors involved was 72, and it included research organisations, companies’ associations, consultants, agencies, chambers, aggregators, and initiatives.
✓ To provide the institutionalisation process with working documents based on real scale and key actors’ points of view, in Italy, Poland and Germany, three workshops with Key actors and companies were organised to test the attractiveness of the DEESME solutions and gather their feedback to provide the DEESME institutionalisation process. In Bulgaria the feedback was gathered through the submission of a questionnaire following a large national event with over 100 participants from state institutions. The consultations were carried out as planned in each of the four implementation countries and yielded some interesting insights.
✓ To involve the NA and/or their implementing agencies of 10 European MS, national legislation and implementing documents were analysed, and questionnaires were filled with the support of NA representatives from the following countries: Austria, Belgium (Walloon region), Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. NA are later involved in two general meetings and per country meetings.
✓ To identify and share best practices from national schemes, EU projects, and other initiatives with NA and to support NA in developing more effective schemes, the generic guidelines and the country specific guidelines have been developed. The generic document includes a set of 55 solution strategies and 50 best practice examples, the national implementation partners adapted this generic guideline for the involved national authorities.
✓ Based on all the insights of the project, general policy recommendations and per-country recommendations have been developed, starting from guidelines, including changes to EED Art. 11 and the recommendations from the key actors.
✓ The countries were involved in the knowledge exchange meeting in WP5 and per – country meetings, exchanges, and direct assistance in WP5. The total number of EU countries involved is 15.
✓ This direct tailored support aimed to offer direct support to the NA and EU level implemented with proposals for modifying existing laws or for making new laws linked to Art 11 implementation.
✓ Communication and exploitation wise, DEESME has achieved huge visibility, with more than 3300 individual downloads of materials and numerous events, workshops and long - established cooperation, which will be further exploited during follow-up project implementation.
The progress to the end of the project includes the integration of the new approach to energy auditing and energy management systems based on multiple benefits. This generally means that the DEESME project provided national authorities with new approach proposals for national schemes under EED art. 11. Such proposals mainly concern technical aspects that can contribute to the improvement of energy efficiency policies under Article 11 of EED. This was done through guidelines and contributions to Guidance for Art 11, but also through a lot of direct and indirect communication and cooperation.
Important part of it is work with companies and other stakeholders so not only analysis of the gaps and needs from both sides and matching them into constructive policy solutions, but also giving additional advice and insights from important actors. The value was added also in terms of overall policies/approaches for energy efficiency (i.e. how to incentivize; what should be mandatory in exchange for what; which company type has to address according to what steps, etc.) also thanks to the best practice selection among national authorities' schemes and EU projects.
An important aspect of DEESME is the quantification of the MB approach, which is to be further developed in the follow-up LIFE CET DEESME 2050 project.
Important part of it is work with companies and other stakeholders so not only analysis of the gaps and needs from both sides and matching them into constructive policy solutions, but also giving additional advice and insights from important actors. The value was added also in terms of overall policies/approaches for energy efficiency (i.e. how to incentivize; what should be mandatory in exchange for what; which company type has to address according to what steps, etc.) also thanks to the best practice selection among national authorities' schemes and EU projects.
An important aspect of DEESME is the quantification of the MB approach, which is to be further developed in the follow-up LIFE CET DEESME 2050 project.