Statutory Requirements

Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme

ESOS

The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) is a compulsory programme of regular energy audits for large enterprises. As well as making companies more energy-efficient and reducing environmental impact, real bottom-line benefits are delivered when you go beyond compliance. There are also penalties for non-compliance.

• Auditing – Enterprises required to undergo auditing are all those with 250+ employees and either an annual turnover of at least €50m (£42m) or an annual balance sheet total of at least €43m (£35m).
• Frequency – Energy audits are conducted every four years by approved assessors. The audit assesses the organisation’s energy intensity ratio – kWh/employee (FTE), for example – and the variation in energy use over time within key buildings and operations.
• Compliance – To achieve compliance, a business needs to gather the necessary data, undertake the assessment, and maintain records of the results. Those with an EMS (Environmental Management System) certified by ISO50001 that includes energy-intensity ratio data will be considered ESOS compliant and not required to implement specific ESOS audits.

Climate Change Agreement

CCA

A CCA is a voluntary agreement by energy-intensive businesses to meet energy-efficiency and carbon-saving targets, in return for a discount of up to 90% on the Climate Change Levy (CCL).

The targets for participating sectors under the current scheme apply from 1 April 2013 until 31 March 2023. The last reporting period for the sector and operator performance assessment is in 2020.

Energy-intensive businesses were defined as industries covered by Part A, in Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 – this definition applies throughout the UK. The 2010 version of the EPR is the most recent available.