Cold Chain Federation calls for Spring Budget to extend climate change agreement scheme

The Cold Chain Federation is urging Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt to use tomorrow’s Spring Budget to extend the Climate Change Agreement (CCA) scheme beyond its current end date of 2025.

The CCA scheme offers tax benefits to businesses which sign up to energy efficiency targets, The Federation is calling for it to be extended, pointing out that the scheme enables the cold storage industry to save more than £10m each year through successfully meeting its targets.

The scheme is particularly crucial in the midst of the energy crisis and provides a very effective framework for significant energy efficiency improvements in cold stores throughout the UK, the Federation is arguing.

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.

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“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 1 April 2023, most cold storage operators will not be eligible for the enhanced level of support which, the Federation is warning, will see their relief plummet just as their energy needs increase.