Focus on: The Government ECA Scheme

In 2001, the now defunct Department of Energy & Climate Change announced the introduction of The Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme, which forms part of a wider government plan to tackle the ongoing concerns surrounding climate change.

The scheme offers hardworking businesses an attractive money-saving proposition to encourage them to invest in energy-saving equipment which reduces carbon emissions.

Energy-saving equipment is often more expensive than its less efficient counterparts, so the ECA scheme allows businesses to write off 100% of the cost of any new equipment against corporation tax in the year of purchase, providing the equipment meets the necessary criteria.

 

Energy Technology List

Energy-saving equipment which is eligible for the scheme is listed on the Energy Technology List (ETL), which is managed by The Carbon Trust. The list contains over 16,000 qualifying products.

You can also see if a product qualifies for the ECA scheme by looking for the blue ETL symbol below.

 

 

 

 

 

Benefits

It is often much more attractive for businesses to invest in equipment which has a lower upfront cost. However, this can be false economy and it is important to take into consideration the whole-life cost over the expected lifespan of the equipment. Often there are cost savings to be made taking this view and they can appear much quicker than you think!

Here are just some of the benefits of investing in energy-saving equipment:

• Increased efficiency
• Lower running costs
• Lower emissions

 

EOGB and the ECA scheme

Many of the Baltur commercial and industrial burners supplied by EOGB are listed on the ETL and EOGB is committed to helping businesses realise the potential savings that can be made by investing in energy-saving equipment.

To provide an indication of potential savings that could be made by installing energy efficient products, EOGB offers a ‘Heating Health Check’ service. This involves a specialist combustion engineer visiting your site and performing a thorough analysis of the boiler combustion process. Following this a report is produced which shows predicted savings as a result of either minor plant upgrades or upgrades to the burners or controls.

Find out more about the ECA scheme here.