Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) Services

Guarantee your ESOS compliance with Carbonfit

What is ESOS?

The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) was introduced to incentivise large UK based businesses to implement energy saving measures and help reduce the UK’s carbon emissions as we work towards becoming net zero by 2050. The scheme requires affected businesses to carry out energy surveys accompanied by cost-effective recommendations to reduce energy demand and improve their energy efficiency.

It is a mandatory requirement for organisations that comply to produce an audit over a 12-month period once every four years.

Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme Compulsory Phases

We are currently in Phase 4 of the scheme. Audits must be completed and reported to the Environment Agency by 5 December 2027.

ESOS help is available from certified consultants if you need support with any of the phases.

The timings of each ESOS phase is shown here:

Who needs to comply with ESOS?

Companies need to comply if they are:

Registered or based in the UK or a UK establishment
Employ 250 people or more or
Have an annual turnover greater than £44m, and an annual balance sheet greater than £38m

SMEs and public-sector bodies are generally exempt from the ESOS scheme.

There has been some new requirements that have been introduced to ESOS Phase 3, to increase the carbon and cost savings made from the scheme.

In Phase 3 of your ESOS submission you will need to:

Ensure at least 95% of your total energy consumption is covered, which has increased from 90% that was required in Phase 2
Provide more detail on the calculation of your energy consumption
Share details of your ESOS report with all members of your organisation
Include specific information on how you plan to make energy saving opportunities throughout your business, this includes costs, benefits and how you plan to implement them
Explain how the site visits that were carried out is a representation of your organisation’s energy use
ESOS Phase 3 now requires all participants to produce an ESOS report, including those using alternative compliance routes such as the ISO 50001 energy management system
Submit a yearly Energy Action Plan following your ESOS Phase 3 submission
Submit a yearly Progress Update which will explore how successfully you are implementing your energy saving opportunities
The Environment Agency will publicly disclose your ESOS data, by publishing the information in your compliance notification, as well as publishing your Action Plan and Progress Reports

The deadline for Phase 4 of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme is 5 December 2027, with a compliance period of 6 December 2023 – 5 December 2027. However, it is never too early to get started, site energy audits can start from January 2024. If you need support with any of the ESOS Compliance Phases, our ESOS consultants will help guarantee your compliance.

Our team can help you make the most of the ESOS energy scheme. They gained valuable insights during ESOS Phase 1 and 2 in supporting clients through the Environment Agency audit, which will benefit businesses in the ESOS Phase 3 compliance process.

Our team of ESOS consultants can support you in the following ways:

Help you fully understand the ESOS scheme and what it means for your business
Collate data for your building, transport and process energy use
Analyse your data and energy consumption
Review your portfolio to determine the number of energy surveys required within the site sampling requirements
Carry out the building(s) energy surveys
Produce the ESOS survey reports including cost-effective energy efficiency recommendations
Maximise the ESOS scheme benefits
Conduct the ESOS review, verification and sign-off
Prepare the ESOS submission document, evidence pack and sign-off
Review your ESOS audit results
Respond to any queries or support on audits conducted by the Environment Agency.

If a qualifying organisation doesn’t meet the deadline, they can expect to receive a fine. Fines start at £5,000 up to £50,000, plus a £500 daily penalty for continued non-compliance up to the value of £40,000.

Six business benefits of complying with ESOS

ESOS Energy Action Plan Submissions

Organisations will be expected to submit Energy Action Plans to provide annual progress updates to track whether they have achieved the energy saving actions in their plan.

Below, we have included the submission dates for the ESOS Phase 3 and Phase 4 Action Plan:

*The deadline for the first Energy Action Plan is the 5 December 2024, however the Environment Agency has announced an extension and will accept Action Plans submitted by the 5 March 2025.

Click here to Email Aaron

Category: Resource | Date:

7th November 2025