The UK Government has officially opened applications for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS), which is designed to reduce electricity costs for eligible manufacturing businesses.
From 2027, BICS will provide eligible manufacturers with relief from the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and Capacity Market, with Government estimating that the scheme could reduce electricity costs by up to £40/MWh.
Given the significance of energy costs to the UK aluminium sector, ALFED strongly encourages members to check their eligibility and, where appropriate, begin preparing their application.
Eligibility is assessed on a site-by-site basis. Broadly, businesses must be registered with Companies House, operate within an eligible sector based on SIC codes, manufacture an eligible product identified through HS codes, and meet the minimum electricity-use requirement.
The Government has launched an online eligibility checker, which provides an initial indication of whether a manufacturing site is likely to qualify. Members will need their Companies House number, manufacturing site postcode(s), details of products manufactured, annual grid electricity consumption and an estimate of electricity used to manufacture each product. The checker itself does not constitute a final eligibility decision.
Key Dates
Applications opened 1 October 2026 and close at 11:59pm on 30 November 2026. Successful applicants are expected to receive confirmation in January 2027, with relief from RO and FiT costs beginning in April 2027 and Capacity Market relief following from October 2027.
Read the full BICS applicant guidance
We would also be interested to hear from ALFED members going through the eligibility and application process, particularly where there are questions or practical issues affecting aluminium businesses. Please feed these back to the ALFED team so that we can identify any common issues across the sector.
