Cold store industry meets its climate change target

Reading, UK: Companies participating in the government’s Climate Change Agreement for cold stores met the agreement’s target for energy efficiency improvements by the end of 2022, the Cold Chain Federation reports.
 
The cold storage target for the end of 2022 required participating sites to improve energy efficiency by 6.67% against a 2018 benchmark: collectively, they achieved a 6.735% improvement.
 
The Climate Change Agreement scheme operates across multiple industries, offering tax benefits to businesses which sign up to energy efficiency targets. The Cold Chain Federation manages the cold storage Climate Change Agreement which saves the cold storage industry more than £10m each year.
 
Tom Southall, executive director, Cold Chain Federation, said: “Energy efficiency is a very high priority for cold storage facilities of all sizes, and the industry’s success in meeting this very challenging CCA target reflects strong focus and significant investment. For many temperature-controlled warehouse operations, the most straightforward energy efficiency measures have already been implemented so energy efficiency gains are now harder won. But the rewards are very significant both in Climate Change Levy savings and also in reducing sky-high energy bills. Securing the extension of the scheme this year was important for our industry, it will help us keep momentum towards net zero while also providing tax savings of more than £10m every year.”
 
The Cold Chain Federation campaigned for the cold storage Climate Change Agreement to be extended past 2025, and an extension was confirmed by government earlier this year, meaning that participating businesses which pass their targets will now benefit from the Climate Change Levy discount through to March 2027. The scheme also opened a new application window in summer 2023 for facilities seeking to join the scheme.
 
The next Climate Change Agreement target for cold stores is to build on the 6.7% energy efficiency improvement achieved by the end of 2022 to reach 10% improvement against the same 2018 baseline by the end of 2024. There may be a number of changes to the scheme during 2024: Climate Change Levy reduction rates are due to change on 1 April 2024, and other proposed changes include an increased buyout price (rising from £18 to £25/tC02e), and the possibility of new reporting requirements on energy efficiency measures installed and decarbonisation potential.
 
“Meeting the next target by the end of 2024 will be just as challenging, Cold Chain Federation members can draw on the support we offer, including our Practical Guide to Energy Efficiency in Cold Stores; webinars about the CCA and its requirements; our Cold Chain Energy Week webinar series; and our Net Zero Cold Store Project resources. We will also be launching a new Cold Store Energy Benchmarking Dashboard in November, a new tool to help our members to better assess energy performance of their facilities and identify the best opportunities to make improvements,” Southall said.
 
The Cold Chain Federation’s new Cold Store Energy Benchmarking Dashboard will be launched alongside other new energy efficiency resources in a webinar at 10am on 14 November 2023, as part of the federation’s series of Energy Week events.