Steve Schofield on ESOS assessment and the business opportunity we must embrace
According to The British Pump Manufacturers' Association (BPMA), the UK’s big businesses are paying for five power stations’ worth of electricity that they don't need, each year! However, by reducing their annual energy consumption by just 1%, these businesses could collectively save over £250 million on their energy bills. Here, we offer an overview of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) and present the business argument for adopting a positive engagement.
A considerable amount of the BPMA’s workload has been focused on ESOS, which is the government’s way of implementing Article 8 (4-6) of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) here in the UK, and which came into force on 17th July 2014.
An effective common framework
The EED establishes a common framework of measures for the promotion of energy efficiency within the EU to ensure the achievement of its 20% headline target on energy efficiency by the year 2020, and to pave the way for further energy efficiency improvements beyond that date.
All 28 EU countries are therefore required to use energy more efficiently at all stages of the energy chain – from the transformation of energy and its distribution to its final consumption. This new directive will help remove barriers and overcome the market failures that impede efficiency in the supply and use of energy, and provide for the establishment of indicative national energy efficiency targets for the year 2020.
Steps towards meeting the target
ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment and energy-saving identification scheme for large organisations and their corporate groups, as well as charities and universities. For the purposes of ESOS, large organisations are deemed to be those that employ at least 250 people, or have an annual turnover of above £40 million and a balance sheet of £34 million.
It is estimated that this classification will cover some 9,400 organisations, although in line with the directive, the public sector is currently excluded.
Comprehensive ‘energy audits’ will form an integral part of the scheme and must be carried out every four years, with the first assessment due by 5th December 2015, the date by which energy audits become mandatory. These audits have the potential of increasing commercial profitability and competitiveness by identifying cost-effective savings that, if implemented, will improve energy efficiency. It is estimated that ESOS will deliver £1.6 billion net benefits to the UK, with the majority of these being directly felt by businesses as a result of energy savings.
BPMA involvement
Given the amount of energy consumed by pumps through their normal operation, and the potential for energy efficiency gains within pump systems, the BPMA has worked to develop a Certified Pump System Auditor Scheme (CPSA).
Through the CPSA, pump engineers are being trained to correctly assess the efficiency of pump systems, and to provide appropriate recommendations in order to improve the efficiency of those systems.
The CPSA accreditation is achieved by successfully completing a four-day residential course, followed by the satisfactory completion of a pump system audit. Only then is ‘Certified Pump System Auditor’ status achieved.
The objective of the scheme is to help improve the levels of professionalism in the sector by creating a universally recognised and respected industry standard for individuals assessing the performance of a pumping system.
Within the full ESOS Guidance document, the ISO/14414-Pump System Energy Assessment standard is referenced as an auditing methodology that can be accepted by Lead Assessors approved by the Environment Agency. Accordingly it is hoped that CPSA accredited persons (who are trained according to the IS0 14414 standard) will be recommended by Lead Assessors to undertake the pumping system elements of company-wide energy audits.
Steve Schofield is director and chief executive of BPMA.
