The Cold Chain Federation (CCF) has urged businesses with cold storage facilities to “act fast” and join the cold storage Climate Change Agreement (CCA) to access Climate Change Levy savings.

A voluntary agreement between government and industry, the cold storage CCA aims to save cold chain businesses more than £10 million each year in return for meeting an energy efficiency target. Applications to join the scheme need to be sent to the CCF by Friday 25th February 2022. 

The CCF manages the only CCA for the cold storage industry, which sees eligible businesses receive a discount on the Climate Change Levy, a tax applied to electricity and fuel bills. With the current CCA scheme already having been extended in 2020, new signatories will be able to benefit from the discount up to 2025 and possibly beyond: as well as opening the new application window, government has also set out a proposal for the CCA to continue beyond 2025.

“Important savings” to be made

CCF policy director Tom Southall said: “More than 400 cold storage facilities across the UK are already signed up to the scheme, and the new application window is a chance for businesses who have opened new facilities in the last 18 months as well as those businesses not yet signed up to make important savings on their energy bills at a time when prices are spiralling.”

He continued: “The application window is only open for a limited time and whilst applying is straightforward, it does take time so we advise starting the process by the end of January. The government proposals for a new CCA to follow the end of the current scheme are positive, so new signatories may also be able to access savings well beyond 2025.”

Those interested in joining the cold storage CCA can contact the CCF’s policy director, Tom Southall, at: tom@coldchainfed.org.uk (0118 988 4468), or complete the online registration of interest form here.