Carbon & Energy case study

ESOS Phase 3 Assessment

Background

The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) was established in response to Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive. ESOS is a UK-based mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations that qualify as a “large undertaking”. One company involved in this case study met the definition of a “large undertaking” as it employed over 250 people on the ESOS Phase 3 qualification date of 31 December 2022. As a result, the entire group of companies to which it belonged was required to comply with ESOS.

Another company within the same group acted as the “responsible undertaking” for the ESOS assessment, which meant it was responsible for submitting the group’s compliance to the relevant regulatory body. The group consists of multiple companies primarily involved in growing, sourcing, packing, handling, and transporting fresh produce, with one company sourcing products globally on behalf of retail and food service customers. The product range includes various types of fruit, salads, and other fresh produce.

Challenge

The group of companies is particularly large, with 21 sites occupied at the time of the ESOS assessment, of which 19 fell within the scope. The initial challenge was to gather the necessary energy data for all these sites and input it into ESOS calculators to determine the Total Energy Consumption and Significant Energy Consumption (SEC) of the group. Multiple energy types had to be quantified, including electricity, red diesel, gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, petrol, diesel, and electricity for EVs.

The next challenge was auditing the energy consumption that made up the SEC. This required in-person audits at seven of the group’s sites, along with a desktop transport audit of the group’s fleet to identify energy-saving recommendations. A summary report for each audit was compiled to address the ESOS criteria.

Solution

The ESOS assessment was completed over a few months, reflecting the size and complexity of the group and the Phase 3 requirements, which were more demanding than those of Phase 2. The responsible company successfully completed the Phase 3 assessment ahead of the revised deadline of 6 August 2024, allowing them to submit compliance to the regulatory body and avoid any penalties.