Empowering SMEs in the Green Transition: Insights from semester 2 of the COMMIT Project

Energy Transition Norway (ETN) and Rogaland County Council are partners in the COMMIT project, funded by the Interreg Europe programme. This project brings together 12 partners from eight European regions, aiming to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through industrial transition.

The project focus is on equipping SMEs with the tools and knowledge needed for a successful shift towards a low-carbon economy, with the overarching goal being to assist local and regional governments in strengthening SME ecosystems during the green transition.

By facilitating knowledge exchange between participating regions, the COMMIT project enables stakeholders to learn from various industrial transformation processes. For Rogaland County, the project  serves as a reference point for future strategic planning, ensuring SMEs play an active role in shaping policies at the regional level.

On March 11, SME representatives  from Rogaland gathered for a workshop dedicated to examining which skills they believe are essential to successfully transition to a low carbon economy.  

The workshop featured a diverse range of companies and organizations working across different sectors:

Havkraft – Developer of wave energy converters to harness electricity from ocean waves

Depro – Subsea tooling solutions for the oil and gas industry

Crust Harvest – Converting abandoned oil and gas wells into geothermal energy sources

Seid – Transforming natural gas into pure hydrogen and solid carbon

Vocational College of Rogaland – Establishing an energy transition course, including CCS education

Skape – Offering training programs for entrepreneurs and startups

SMB Norway & Eqon – Innovations in energy-efficency, reducing energy costs by 80%

Beyonder – Advanced battery technology solutions

University of Stavanger – PhD research focused on green transition

Key challenges identified by the participants

During the workshop, participants were encouraged to share best practices and case studies related to SME access to skills for the low-carbon transition. Several key challenges emerged:

• Difficulty securing funding, especially for early-stage projects that are not yet ready for commercial use.

• Public support systems can’t keep up with market changes, making it harder for SMEs to adjust when necessary to stay competitive.

• Internal challenges, such as a lack of focus, motivation, and expertise to implement necessary changes.

• Struggles with selling, as many SMEs are good at developing technology but lack strong marketing and sales skills.

• Lack of connections between startups and larger industry players, which makes it harder for new businesses to gain traction.

• Limited knowledge of sustainability reporting, making it difficult for SMEs to meet environmental regulations and attract investors.

Research insights: Sustainability reporting is a bottleneck

The last point aligned with research conducted by Frida Layti, PhD candidate at the University of Stavanger, who studies the barriers SMEs in Rogaland face in achieving a low-carbon economy. Frida stressed the critical role of SMEs in the transition, as they account for 57% of greenhouse gas emissions and 76% of energy consumption in the EU.

Her findings highlight that sustainability reporting remains a major challenge for SMEs. One case study examined a company with 13,000 suppliers, all required to provide sustainability data. The absence of standardized reporting frameworks complicates benchmarking, while many companies question the value of the reported data for regulators or customers.

When it comes to climate accounting, businesses generally have a strong grasp of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions but struggle with Scope 3 emissions, which often rely on estimations.

According to Frida’s research, the main obstacles include uncertainty and lack of clear expectations around sustainability efforts; insufficient knowledge, experience, time, and resources to conduct sustainability reporting and carbon accounting; and difficulty in identifying accurate emission factors and assessing climate impact.

Moving forward

Looking ahead, ETN and Rogaland County Council  will meet with the other project partners in the Netherlands on March 24 - 25 to share insights from this workshop and learn from other’s experiences.

These discussions will contribute to shaping strategies that ensure SMEs receive the necessary support to navigate the transition to a more sustainable, low-carbon economy.