MERĊA – Managing Essential Resources in Retail through Consumption Analysis

MERĊA is a pilot project carried out by the Energy and Water Agency, in collaboration with the Malta Chamber of SMEs, focusing on SMEs operating within the food and beverage retail sector. The project supported corner shops, convenience stores, mini-markets and supermarkets in identifying measures that contribute towards more efficient and sustainable operations.

Energy and Water Audits

As part of the MERĊA project, energy and water audits were carried out at participating retail enterprises to better understand their resource consumption and identify opportunities for improved efficiency. The audits included data collection and metering across key energy consuming systems and were used to identify significant energy users and potential measures for improving energy performance.

The energy and water audit process has now been concluded. All corresponding audit reports have also been finalised and provided to the participating food and beverage retail enterprises, together with tailored recommendations aimed at improving resource efficiency and supporting more sustainable operations.

How MERĊA Worked

The project involved working directly with participating enterprises to collect energy and water consumption information, carry out audits, analyse consumption patterns and identify areas where efficiency improvements could be made.

The audits followed the methodology described in ISO 50002:2014, incorporating the requirements of a Type 1 energy audit together with a metering exercise and the identification of opportunities for improvement.

Supporting the Retail Sector

Beyond the participating enterprises, the knowledge and experience gained through MERĊA can support the wider adoption of energy and water efficiency practices within Malta’s retail sector. The project also contributes to the development of replicable recommendations, benchmarking approaches and the sharing of best practices that can assist other enterprises in improving their resource efficiency.

MERĊA Energy Audits Summary Report

Following the completion of the individual audits and corresponding audit reports, the MERĊA Energy Audits Summary Report was prepared to bring together relevant information and key observations arising from the audit process. The report provides further information on the audit methodology, energy and water consumption assessment, opportunities for improvement and guidance that may be useful to other operators within the sector. This reflects the report’s stated purpose of making information from the completed audits available to other sector operators.