Manufacturers, there is a date worth putting in the diary.
Applications for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme open on 1 October and close on 30 November. Support from April 2027 depends on applying inside that window.
Here is what sits behind it.
On most industrial sites, a large share of the electricity bill is not electricity at all. It is policy levies layered on top. BICS exempts eligible manufacturers from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market. Government values that at roughly £35 to £40 per MWh, or up to a 25% cut in electricity bills.
The scheme has also been widened. It now reaches more than 10,000 businesses rather than 7,000, and SMEs are eligible on the same footing as large manufacturers. Support is not prioritised by size.
Eligibility runs on sector and product codes, and on how much of the electricity at each site goes into making qualifying products. Below 25%, no exemption. Between 25% and 50%, a half exemption. At 50% or above, the full exemption.
Which is why the application matters more than the announcement. The evidence has to be there, site by site.
Government is releasing a free eligibility checker, and it is worth ten minutes of anyone’s time. If it tells you that you might qualify, the work is in proving it.
That part we can help with. Get in touch before October and we will go through it with you.
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