E4S – Energy for Supply is a European project aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in their transition towards greater energy efficiency, promoting a collaborative approach across production supply chains.

SMEs represent a crucial part of industrial ecosystem, as their level of efficiency directly affects focal companies and the wider supply chains. However, many SMEs still struggle to adopt energy efficiency practices due to a lack of expertise, financial resources, and appropriate support tools.

E4S addresses these challenges by offering integrated solutions to strengthen SMEs’ capacity to improve their performance, engaging both focal firms and financial actors.

Funded under the LIFE23-CET-BUSINESS programme of the European Union, the project is coordinated by the University of Gävle (Sweden) and involves four partners: Politecnico di Milano, Linköping University (Sweden), Nordic Energy Audit, and E7 – Energy Innovation Engineering (Austria).

E4S aims to:

• promote a wider adoption of energy audits among SMEs;
• create collaborative networks between companies and suppliers to share experiences and best practices;
• develop financial tools and innovative business models to support investments in energy efficiency and sustainability.

The Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano contributes to the implementation of energy audits, the design of improvement plans, and the promotion of energy efficiency networks among companies. The research team also analyses and proposes financial instruments and support models to facilitate SMEs’ access to the resources needed for their energy transition.