Those who qualify will need to make arrangements to meet the requirements of this statutory scheme, and NFU Energy has experts on hand that can help.
The scheme was introduced by the UK Government in 2015 in response to a European Union directive on energy reporting. Its aim is to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions by making it compulsory for larger businesses to identify energy-saving measures.
The deadline for phase 2 of the ESOS is 5 December 2019. If you need to comply, there are three important aspects that need to be completed.
Quantification of the total energy consumption
Twelve months of verifiable data (energy consumption across all sites) is required, which must include the qualification date of the 31 December 2018 – only data collected from the 31 December 2017 will be valid for compliance purposes. This data is required to be reported and is also needed to determine what audits and verifications need completing.
Carry out the audits required to identify energy-saving opportunities
As it stands, the Environment Agency (EA) has advised that energy audits can now be carried out as part of the compliance for the next phase.
Getting in early will prevent the rush for auditing as ESOS deadlines loom. Starting to analyse data now is an invaluable start to the process because this way any abnormal energy use can be spotted and addressed as part of the ESOS audit reports.
Report to the Environment Agency that your business is compliant with the scheme
Notification can only take place once the data has been collected and any necessary audits are carried out, the notification can be completed anytime from now on but must be done by the deadline.
Is auditing the only way?
Another route to compliance is by your business, as an organisation, becoming ISO50001 certified. This requires the implementation of a best practice energy management system in line with the standard, and is equivalent to ISO9001 (Quality Management) and ISO14001 (Environmental Management).
The benefits of doing this include:
A continuous improvement in energy performance (rather than potentially only taking action on information once every four years)
Less effort to comply with ESOS phases going forward
Benefitting from an improved profile with demonstrable regard to energy performance and gaining a competitive advantage.
The down side of this approach is the length of time it takes to become ISO50001 accredited.
It can take more than a year, as the energy management system would need to be implemented first, and then certified by an external assessment.
NFU Energy is set up to complete ESOS requirements, and it can help with carrying out ESOS compliance auditing, acting as an assessor (i.e. reviewing existing energy audits), or the whole process, ensuring farm businesses are compliant.
Give the NFU Energy team a call on 024 7669 8899 to discuss how we can help you further.
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