Application open for grants to SMEs to increase energy efficiency

Small and medium-sized enterprises in countries participating in the European Union’s Single Market Program can apply to get support to improve their energy efficiency performances. They include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.

The EENergy project is funded by the EU’s Single Market Program (SMP). It supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are working on action plans to improve their energy efficiency performances.

EENergy will be executed by and with the support of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) which, since 2008, has been supporting European SMEs in growing, scaling, and reaching their business goals. The EEN is the world’s largest SME support network, present in 39 countries in Europe with around 300 publicly financed regional support nodes for SMEs.

The EENerg project aims to support at least 1,800 small and medium-sized enterprises

The project aims to support at least 1,800 SMEs including through EEN sustainability support services. Nine hundred of them will also receive direct financial support, the open call reads.

To ensure a fair geographical spread across eligible countries, the organization targets a minimum representation of 2% from each SMP country.

Direct financial support, realized through investments in technological solutions and access to dedicated consultancy and upskilling expertise, aims to lead to an efficiency performance improvement of at least 5% for the participating SMEs, according to the call.

Applications can be submitted until April 15

The financial support is limited to EUR 10,000. Applications can be submitted until April 15 (instructions for applicants).

All eligible SMEs that respond to the call, regardless of the outcome of the funding selection process, will be supported by their sustainability advisor and receive a detailed benchmark to identify their weaknesses and areas of opportunity.

The EENergy Open Call is for any SME incorporated until end-2022 and operating and registered in a country that is part of the EU’s SMP.