Applications open for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
The scheme will reduce electricity costs by up to £40 per megawatt hour for eligible manufacturers.
Businesses eligible for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will receive exemptions from the indirect costs associated with 3 existing electricity policy schemes:
- the Renewables Obligation (RO) and Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) which require electricity suppliers to make payments to support generation of electricity from renewable sources; and
- the Capacity Market (CM) which requires electricity suppliers to make payments to ensure the UK has adequate electricity capacity
However, Ceramics UK has called for further details as the majority of its members fall out of BICS’ eligibility criteria.
‘A small number of ceramics manufacturers do qualify for BICS, but we still need more detail about the decision-making process to understand the reasoning behind other parts of the sector being ineligible,’ said its CEO Rob Flello.
‘Currently, producers of concrete or stone bricks and tiles are eligible for the scheme while manufacturers of clay bricks and tiles are not; and this will impact competition in the market. We also feel strongly that refractories should qualify for BICS and there is a lack of transparency on why this is not the case.’
This is in addition to the comments Flello made following BICS announcement earlier this year.
