Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme Looming Deadline

Certification body BM TRADA has warned that a “significant proportion” of the largest companies in Britain do not know about the government’s Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme (ESOS).

Whilst registration is not required, Companies must determine if they meet the criteria on the 31st December 2014 and therefore comply under ESOS requirments.  Companies then have up to the 5th December 2015 to notify the Envoroment Agency of their organisations compliance.

BM TRADA also pointed out that ESOS is mandatory and requires businesses to carry out energy assessments of their industry, transportation, and buildings to see if improvements need to be made.

The scheme mainly applies to large businesses with over 250 employees or 50 million euros or more in turnover per year.  However smaller businesses that are owned by a wider group will have to comply if they are accounted for within the 90% of energy spend.

Companies that fail to register can receive fines between £5,000 and £50,000 with an additional £500 per day to a max of £40,000 and also risk being shamed by the Environmental Agency.

However, though the energy audit is mandatory, companies do not have to implement any recommended changes to reduce their energy use.

Vic Bowen, chief operating officer at BM TRADA – Certification UK, said: “The clock is ticking on ESOS, with the deadline for applications now only weeks away.”

A large number of the UK’s 10,000 large businesses do not know about the 5th December 2015 deadline, BM TRADA believes, or about the punishments involved in failing to register.

ESOS was first introduced on 17 July 2014 as a response to the European Commission’s Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), which required all 28 members states to take steps to regularly audit the energy use of their largest corporations.

The overall aim of the EED is to cut energy use by 20% over the next four years by improving the energy efficiency in major companies.

Catalyst are able to support your ESOS compliance at whatever level is appropriate, whether that be reviewing existing audits to ensure compliance, or carrying out audits and acting as the Lead Assessor.

Depending on your outlook we can provide either the fastest, most cost efficient route to compliance or use ESOS as an opportunity to provide strong business cases for implementing energy conservation measures and realising energy and carbon savings.