Cut your electricity costs by up to 25%.
The government's new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will exempt eligible manufacturers from certain policy costs on their electricity. The eligibility window is short and fixed. We help you check whether you qualify and get your evidence ready in time.
Lower electricity bills for UK manufacturers.
The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) is a UK government scheme, led by the Department for Business and Trade, designed to reduce electricity costs for eligible manufacturers. It works by exempting qualifying businesses from the indirect costs of three energy policies: the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market.
For eligible sites, that could mean a reduction in electricity costs of up to 25%, based on Government estimates - a meaningful difference in a sector where electricity is one of the largest operating costs.
The scheme is targeted, not universal. It is aimed at genuinely electricity-intensive manufacturing, and eligibility is assessed against your sector, your products and your site-level electricity use. Not every manufacturer will qualify - which is exactly why checking early matters.
What the exemptions cover
- ✓ Renewables Obligation (RO) costs
- ✓ Feed-in Tariff (FiT) costs
- ✓ Capacity Market (CM) costs - from October 2027
- ✓ A one-off backdated payment reflecting relief from April 2026
A short window, then years of savings.
The scheme runs on a fixed government timetable. The critical date is the eligibility window - everything else follows from getting your application in on time.
Eligibility window
Submit your eligibility information to the Department for Business and Trade. Applying in this window is essential to receive support from April 2027.
Legislation
Formal legislation and impact assessments for the scheme are expected.
Relief begins
Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariff relief starts, plus a one-off payment backdated to April 2026.
Capacity Market relief
Further exemptions from Capacity Market costs take effect, deepening the saving.
How eligibility is decided.
Eligibility is assessed on more than just your industry. It comes down to your sector, your products and how much of each site's electricity goes to eligible manufacturing.
Your sector
Your business must operate in an eligible manufacturing sector, defined by its Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code - focused on the government's priority industrial sectors.
Your products
The goods you manufacture must match eligible Harmonised System (HS) product codes, linking what you actually produce to the qualifying activity the scheme supports.
Your site's electricity use
There is no separate intensity test for your business - the electricity-intensity test is applied by government at sector level. What matters at your end is how much of each site's electricity goes to eligible manufacturing, which sets the level of relief.
Relief is assessed site by site. Where more than 25% but less than 50% of a site's electricity goes to eligible manufacturing it qualifies for a 50% exemption, and 50% or more gives a 100% exemption; at 25% or less a site does not qualify. That makes accurate, site-level consumption data essential - and it is precisely the kind of evidence many manufacturers do not have to hand.
Ready to apply, not scrambling.
The application window is short and the evidence requirements are detailed. We help you get ahead of both - so when applications open, you are ready.
Check where you stand
We assess your SIC classification, your product codes and your site-level electricity use against the scheme's criteria - so you know early whether you qualify, and for which sites.
Build your evidence case
The detailed part is the evidence: showing, site by site, how much of your electricity goes to eligible manufacturing, backed by six consecutive months of consumption data. It takes the right data and a defensible method - exactly the kind of work we handle for you.
Track it with elexi
Our elexi platform captures site-level consumption continuously - so the data behind your application stays current, and the yearly declaration the scheme requires is straightforward.
Find out if you qualify.
Book a no-obligation BICS eligibility check. We'll look at your sector, your products and your site-level electricity use, and tell you where you stand - and what to prepare before the window opens.