Energy scheme offers huge savings potential

The new EU rules will require all firms with more than 250 employees to complete an ESOS compliant energy audit before December 2015 to identify energy saving opportunities. But – as our free, one-hour webinar​ on the subject explains – they will not be required to implement the potential energy savings revealed by the audit. See end of this article for more details.

Global energy management specialist, Schneider Electric said the industry should turn the new rules to its advantage. “This legislation has been inevitable, not just in terms of EU environmental targets but the well-being of the UK’s economy,” ​said Adam Pigott, the firm’s head of energy consulting for energy and sustainability services.

‘Do things the right way’​

“For businesses, while the main premise of going green may be to ensure legislative compliance and energy saving, the reality is that it is vital to business success. With rising ethical consumerism and increased credence on corporate social responsibility, the business of today which will grow and evolve in the future will be the ones who do things the right way.”​

Jes Rutter, md of energy efficiency specialist JRP Solutions, said the scheme would focus attention on an area neglected by some firms. “ESOS presents industrial firms with an opportunity to improve not only their environmental credentials but to make a significant and positive impact upon their bottom line performance,”​ said Rutter, who is speaking at the Food Manufacture Group’s new webinar: Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme: switch onto savings​.

More than 7,000 of Britain’s biggest companies are expected to be affected by the new energy audit, which must be repeated every four years. The legislation is designed to both to drive the EU’s carbon reduction targets and to identify significant savings for large-scale businesses.

Savings of nearly £2bn​

The government predicted ESOS could help deliver savings of nearly £2bn, while the Carbon Trust claimed savings of £500M could be made within two years.

Energy management consultancy CMR said the government had announced a number of routes to compliance, including ESOS compliant energy audits, ISO 50001 certification, green deal assessments and display energy certificates (DECs).

Chris Doubleday, CMR energy and water consultant said efforts to simplify compliance and make use of existing schemes provide organisations with a real opportunity to meet their own wider goals, while complying with ESOS. “CMR recognises that ESOS will not be a 'one size fits all' approach …” ​he said.

Meanwhile, our free-to-attend, one-hour webinar on Thursday September 18 at 1100 GMT will arm delegates with the information they need to make the most of the savings. The one-hour online seminar will take the form of short presentations from the government’s Energy Efficiency Deployment Office, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), JRP Solutions and Arla Foods.

Speakers will include:

 •Martin Adams, ESOS team leader, Energy Efficiency Deployment Office

•Steve Reeson, FDF head of climate change and energy policy

•Arla Foods spokesman

•Jes Rutter, md JRP Solutions

Reserve your free place here​. The webinar will conclude with a question and answer session and you can put your question in advance to our expert panel by emailing Michael.stones@wrbm.com.