PINE will consist of four main parts: The design of a reference model to perform energy audits, the training of the technicians in charge of the preliminary audits, the audit stage and the implementation of the saving measures.

At the same time, the audit stage will be made up of two processes:
On the one hand an awareness campaign for SMEs will be carried out, informing and involving them in the project activities. 40 companies from the different countries taking part at PINE will be selected for a preliminary audit, in which their energy consumption will be identified and the necessity of a deeper audit will be studied. This preliminary audit aims to identify their savings potential and their will to introduce the recommendations and measures in their facilities.

Subsequently and according to those criteria, in 20 of these companies per country an in-depth energy audit will be performed, that will include a detailed on-site analysis, identifying technical solutions available at the market. The experts will suggest both low cost measures that can be implemented in a short period of time with small investments and also more significant changes that could lead to even larger savings but require more investments.

Since larger investments can be a major barrier for SMEs they will also provide the companies with suggestions about possible funding programs at national/regional/local level.

CIRCE has been in charge of the design of the auditing methodology to be developed during the project, as well as training the other partners on how to manage and apply this methodology, in order to perform it at their respective countries.

CIRCE will also carry out the energy audits of the SMEs in Spain, and will assess and supervise them (both technically and economically) in the implementation of the new solutions.