CCAs are voluntary agreements made between UK industry and the Environment Agency to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. In return, operators receive a discount on the Climate Change Levy (CCL), a tax added to electricity and fuel bills.
For operators who hold a CCA, the CCL will be reduced by 90% on electricity bills and 65% on other fuels.
CCAs are available for a wide range of industry sectors, ranging from agricultural businesses such as intensive pig and poultry farming to food and drink manufacturers.
Submit applications
The Environment Agency, which administers the scheme, is advising operators to submit applications well in advance of October 2018 in order to allow sufficient time to assess applications, produce agreements and targets.
“We suggest that applications received by the end of July should meet the October date,” said a spokeswoman at the Environment Agency.
Love Energy Savings, the energy business comparison website, has claimed that food manufacturers could save thousands of pounds.
Mark Duffy, head of mid-market energy, from Love Energy Savings, has warned that registering is something that companies forget to do but argued companies needed to think seriously about getting involved.
Less uptake
“Love Energy Savings has found that there are certain sectors where there is less uptake than others,” he said.
“Ensuring you are registered to the CCA programme is easy and important for businesses in many sectors of the food industry, regardless of their size.”
He also argued that CCAs could be essential to driving energy efficiency improvements, which could result in significant cost savings on top of the 90% or 65% reduction allowed with CCL.
As part of the scheme, he said, there were a series of different steps aimed at promoting efficiency in sectors such as manufacturing.
“For example, the goal could be a 10% reduction in carbon emissions at the first milestone, then a reduction of 5% at each of the three milestones after that,” he said.
Companies that want to apply should contact their sector council.
Go to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/climate-change-agreements--2 for more information