The Cold Chain Federation is urging Government to use the Spring Budget to extend the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme beyond its current end date of 2025.
The federation said that the cold storage CCA provides a very effective framework for significant energy efficiency improvements in cold stores throughout the UK, and that the scheme remains crucial as cold stores navigate the ongoing energy crisis.
The call to extend the CCA scheme comes as leaders of the UK’s temperature-controlled logistics industry gather at the Cold Chain Federation’s pioneering Cold Chain Climate Summit. The Summit sees more than 200 professionals from the UK’s cold storage and distribution industry meet with global partners, academics and policy officials to explore the challenges and opportunities for the cold chain in tackling and adapting to climate change.
The CCA scheme operates across multiple industries, offering tax benefits to businesses which sign up to energy efficiency targets. The cold storage industry saves more than £10m each year through successfully meeting its targets.
Cold Chain Federation Executive director Tom Southall said: “The CCA for cold storage has been a great success, resulting in substantial energy efficiency improvements – the participating operators have consistently achieved the testing efficiency targets set by Government over the past decade. The energy crisis remains seriously challenging for cold storage facilities and as many operators advance to more complex energy efficiency measures, the continuation of the CCA is vital in supporting that investment. In the Spring Budget we want to see the Government announce an extension to the scheme beyond its current end date of 2025, to maintain momentum on energy efficiency improvements in cold stores and to enable operators to continue investing in our industry’s net zero future.”
The Cold Chain Federation has also asked the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to provide greater energy bill relief for cold storage facilities, as critical infrastructure for food supply where energy needs increase over the warmer summer months. Under the proposals for the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, set to replace the Energy Bill Relief Scheme from 1st April 2023, most cold storage operators will not be eligible for the enhanced level of support meaning that their relief will plummet just as their energy needs increase.
