
Our FAQ for the Energy Efficiency Award
Answers to frequently asked questions about the Energy Efficiency Award
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Private and public companies can submit their energy efficiency and climate protection projects in the four competition categories for the Energy Efficiency Award to dena from April 2nd until June 6th, 2025.
After the end of the application phase, dena will review the applications received and contact the applicants if there is need for further technical information. Towards the end of September 2025, the competition‘s expert jury will decide which projects and concepts will be nominated for the Energy Efficiency Award 2025.
The nominations in the individual categories will be announced in a press release in October 2025. All nominees will be informed. The award ceremony will take place at the dena Congress in Berlin on November 3rd 2025.
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The award-winning projects in the four main categories are presented with professionally produced corporate videos highlighting their impact on energy transition and climate protection efforts. The videos are not only shared on dena's actively managed social media channels, but also made available to the distinguished companies. A special prize is awarded to a small or medium-size enterprise, which is endowed with 5,000 Euro prize money.
The publicity the award winners gain have mutiple effects, because winners of the Energy Efficiency Award position themselves as responsible, innovative and economically active companies. To this end, dena has developed a label that nominees and award winners can use in their public relations work. The award winners will also receive a trophy. The award winners are usually the subject of intensive media coverage.
On top, the application process itself offers a number of benefits. For example, the content of every application for the Energy Efficiency Award is checked by dena staff. This generates professional attention. Companies and their energy efficiency and climate protection projects thus become known to dena, which forms a central interface between politics and industry and acts as an advisory agency for the applied energy transition.
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The competition is open to all private and public companies, irrespective of their industry classification or company size. This means that companies in which the public sector directly or indirectly holds a majority stake are also eligible. However, the company must be legally existing and economically active.
In addition to individual applications, cooperative applications are also permitted for all project submissions. This means that projects for energy and CO2 savings can also be submitted if they have been implemented as part of a cooperation.
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The deadline for submitting competition entries is June 6th, 2025.
Competition entries can be submitted via the online application form.
After successful registration, one or more applications may be submitted. Submissions can be saved and continued at a later date.
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The project categories are described in more detail on the Award website. It is not unusual for a project to fit multiple categories. It is advisable to choose the category in which your project can best be represented. However, a change in the competition category is still possible afterwards and is supported by dena if this improves the chances of winning.
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Yes, you can also submit several projects or concepts in parallel. However, these must then be clearly separated from each other in terms of content and organization.
The option of submitting multiple projects is intended to accommodate large companies with many locations and providers of energy efficiency products and services whose energy efficiency projects have been implemented in the user company. On the other hand, the multiple submission of duplicate projects is not desired, such as the individual application from branches that have implemented one and the same project.
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A complete application includes information about the company in which the project was implemented, about the project implementation, and about the concrete results. If a service provider was involved in the project, they should also be named in the application.
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All information submitted will be treated confidentially. The documents will only be made available to dena employees and members of the jury. Jury members are also expressly bound by this confidentiality obligation. Descriptions of the project will be agreed with the companies before possible publication.
If you have consented to being contacted for advertising purposes as part of your application, dena reserves the right to inform your company in the future about possible cooperation, communication of energy efficiency measures, or specialist events on the basis of the information known to dena.
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The Energy Efficiency Award is free of charge. Neither participation fees nor processing fees are charged.
Please note that you may nevertheless incur indirect costs, such as personnel costs for preparing and submitting the application or travel expenses if the company is one of the winners of the competition and receives the award in person in Berlin. These costs are at the discretion of the respective companies and will not be reimbursed by dena.
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The winners are selected by an expert jury with independent representatives from politics, business, science and the trade media. The jury gives reasons for its decisions in writing. The jury's decision is not subject to appeal. The winner of the special prize is decided by an audience vote at the dena Congress.
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The nominated projects/concepts will be announced by dena in a press release at the beginning of October. The nominees will be named in a press release. All nominees will receive written notification from dena and will be invited to the dena Congress in Berlin. All non-selected applicants will also be informed of the decision in writing by dena.
The winners will be announced at the Energy Efficiency Award ceremony in November 2025. The award winners will also be named in a press release.
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If you have any questions about the Energy Efficiency Award, about submitting a project or concept, or about the application process, please either send us an or call us: Tel: +49 (0)30 66777 -700. We are happy to assist you!