Green Solutions: Energy Assessments & Low Carbon Grants

Green Solutions funded by BEAS

The Business Energy Advice Service (BEAS) is a pilot scheme led by West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and funded by the UK Government through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The programme is aimed to help businesses reduce energy costs and drive growth by providing free energy assessments and 50% match-funded grants of up to £100,000 for SMEs. There is no payback required, with the intention to aid businesses and to help the region get to net zero by 2041. Staffordshire County Council is the lead delivery partner for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and the Green Solutions Team offers support with the following:

Energy Assessments: This FREE Energy Assessment will look at your energy consumption and provide you with recommendations to save money and reduce your carbon emissions.
Low Carbon Grant: A grant of between £1,000 and £100,000 (cover up to 50% of eligible costs) is available per business to implement any of the recommendations from the Energy Assessment.
The Green Loan Scheme can be used in conjunction with a Low Carbon Grant. A loan from £5,000 to £200,000 to cover the cost of energy efficient measures.

Energy Assessment

SME business’ can access an Energy Assessment, that is delivered by the independent energy consultant specialists, Pro Enviro Ltd, and is completely free of charge, if your business:

Business Activity: Companies must be officially registered (on Companies House) and active for at least 12 months in the same premise, with financial records demonstrating operational activity.
Business Type: Must be a commercial entity or profit-seeking enterprise, such as a partnership, limited company, or Community Interest Company (CIC). Sole traders are not eligible.
Commercial Address: Businesses must operate from a registered commercial address and not a residential property. This must be from a premise in a Staffordshire or Stoke-on-Trent Local Authority area.
Energy Bill Responsibility: Applicants must be responsible for paying their business energy bills for at least 12 months.
Energy Consumption: Businesses must use a minimum of 25,000 kWh of energy (electricity and/or gas) annually.
SME Classification: Businesses must have fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of less than €50 million, or a balance sheet total under €43 million.
Subsidy: Has not received over £315,000 in subsidies in the current and previous two financial years (financial year being 1 April to 31 March), and has not participated in ESOS.

The Energy Assessment is fully subsidised. This means that you, the recipient business, will not need to contribute any finance towards it, although the value of the subsidy will be notified to you and taken from our allocation of funds on your behalf.

Examples of technologies that could be recommended in your Energy Assessment

Each of the recommendations that a business may received is subject to the individuality of each business and technologies recommended. Previous grant funding have included:

Compressors
Controls
Cooling
Equipment upgrades
Heating (replacement boilers, burners, heat pumps)
Hot water efficiency measures
Humidification
Insulation
Lighting (LED, controls, sensors)
Other buildings measures e.g. glazing
Recycling & Waste (compactors, balers & crushers)
Refrigeration
Retrofitting for the purpose of installing a heat pump
Small appliances
Solar PV and batteries
Submetering
Ventilation (fans, distribution, destratification fans)
Water management

Low Carbon Grant

Your business can access a Low Carbon Grant if:

Has undertaken an energy assessment.
Is registered on Companies House.
Trades from premises in a Staffordshire or Stoke-on-Trent Local Authority area.
Has been trading for at least 12 months.
Has not received over £315,000 in subsidies in the current and previous two financial years (financial year being 1 April to 31 March).
Has not received a full grant payment of £100,000 in the last round of BEAS funding.
Grant funding is not available for businesses in the sector of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
Additional criteria may apply.

The Low Carbon Grant is partly subsidised. This means that you, the recipient business, will need to contribute finance towards project costs.

Can my Low Carbon Grant cover all the Energy Assessment recommendations?

Unfortunately, not all of the recommendations suggested in your Energy Assessment will be eligible for our grant cover. The main points that will determine what is and is not eligible for our Low Carbon Grant are:

If each recommendation has a payback period of 2+ years.
Estimated total costs must be more than £2,000 to claim our minimum grant allowance.
Solar recommendations (panels & batteries) are eligible, but are only allowed a maximum of £50,000 grant funding.