Case Studies - Environment

Counting the Cost of Saving Energy

The Project

The Climate Change Levy has been in force since April 2001, adding approximately 15% to most commercial energy bills. Certain energy intensive industries have been eligible for up to 80% relief on this levy based upon a commitment to improving energy efficiency.

It was this relief, known as the Climate Change Levy Rebate Scheme that brought Pro Enviro Ltd together with a major copper foil manufacturer based in the North East of England.

With an annual energy bill running to over £750,000 it was obvious that there would be a significant financial benefit in entering into an agreement, both in terms of the levy rebate and the energy savings that could be made as part of the structured energy management programme. However with the mammoth task of installing completely new process lines already in progress, senior managers decided that the mix of expertise, experience and the innovative approach that Pro Enviro could provide was perfect for their requirements.

The Completion

Which are eligible processes? Which baseline year? What normalisers, Relative or Absolute? Energy or Carbon? - The Climate Change Levy rebate scheme is far from straightforward and is a potential minefield for errors. In this instance Pro Enviro managed every aspect of the Climate Change Levy Agreement process, including carrying out a gap analysis between all applicable trade associations schemes to identify the most suitable programme. Then, once the decision was made Pro Enviro easily tackled each stage of the process, from gathering the base data, completing all applications, calculating targets and potential savings, even down to negotiations with the trade associations and DEFRA.

Pro Enviro also utilised a unique database system called Climate Change Advantage™ as a single repository for all required data, generating an electronic "evidence pack", access to which was given to DEFRA and Future Energy Solutions as part of the assessment process.

The Achievements

Each aspect of the process was completed and the application submitted to DEFRA within 3 months - this was subsequently approved and Pro Enviro submitted the relevant documentation to the energy suppliers immediately.

Entry into the CCL Rebate scheme also provided other important advantages, Pro Enviro have developed an extensive, structured energy management programme that will help our client meet the targets for each milestone period, help reduce energy consumption / costs as well as forming part of a process improvement programme under IPPC regulations. The extensive data gathered and entered into Climate Change Advantage as part of the evidence pack is also the ideal platform for entry into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme as all required data to view and analyse the Carbon position is available to senior managers at the press of a button.

The Benefits

In financial terms, the primary benefit of this project has been a saving of approximately £2000 PER WEEK in tax that was previously being paid. This level of savings represented a payback of just a few weeks on the costs of undertaking the project and has led the company to investigate many more opportunities to increase efficiency on site, without increasing cost.
Over the expected lifetime of the scheme, it is estimated that a massive £675,000 in CCL will be saved by this company alone, money which may well prove to be a vital lifeline in today's harsh manufacturing environment.