The aim of the research was to identify energy-saving and decarbonisation opportunities for Hungarian metal-processing SMEs and to assess how these measures could influence the sector’s competitiveness and energy use. Building on energy audits conducted at typical companies, the project analysed the energy consumption of manufacturing technologies and evaluated the identified measures at sectoral level. The assessment covered investment costs, payback periods and the potential applicability of each solution across the SME segment.

Our research project, supported by the European Climate Foundation, assessed the costs and energy savings that can be achieved at the national economy level in the short and medium term. As part of the research, we carried out out a detailed energy audit at two companies in the sub-sectors of metal surface treatment and machining, metal structure and building element manufacturing and tool and general metal goods manufacturing, with the involvement of energy experts from Wattmanager Ltd. The audits were an integral part of the research and their results were used as a basis for national level estimates and a simplified energy recommendation (handbook) for the whole sector.

The results show that several investments with short and medium payback periods already offer significant energy-saving potential even without additional support schemes. Technological upgrades, energy management systems and solar PV installations can all contribute to reducing electricity and natural gas consumption while improving companies’ competitiveness. The reference scenario of the national potential assessment assumes that SMEs implement a share of economically viable investments within three years without subsidies; under this assumption, the sector’s annual energy consumption could decrease from 896 GWh to 833 GWh, with natural gas use falling by around 4% and purchased electricity by 9%, while total energy costs decline by approximately 8.5%. In an optimistic scenario - assuming that all SMEs implement economically viable and technologically relevant measures - total sectoral energy consumption could decrease by up to 14% (around 124 GWh), reducing annual energy costs from roughly HUF 47 billion to about HUF 38 billion.

The full study presenting the methodology and detailed results of the potential assessment, as well as a brochure summarising energy-saving and decarbonisation options for companies, can be downloaded below, while the presentations from the project workshop are available at this link.