The Government of Gibraltar has established the Gibraltar Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme 2016 (ESOS), to implement Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU) http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/eed/eed_en.htm  The Gibraltar ESOS Regulations 2016 gives effect to the scheme.

ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations that meet the qualification criteria as defined in the Directive. The Department of the Environment and Climate Change is the administrative body for this scheme.

Organisations that qualify for ESOS are required to carry out ESOS assessments every 4 years. These assessments are audits of the energy used by their buildings, industrial processes and transport, to identify cost-effective energy saving measures.

Organisations who meet the specified criteria must register with the Department of the Environment and Climate Change for ESOS Phase II by December 31^st 2018. 

- Read the full ESOS guidance.

This guidance document gives a comprehensive overview of the ESOS. It details:

• which organisations qualify for this mandatory scheme;
• what qualifying organisations need to do to comply;
• how organisations should notify the Department of Environment and Climate Change that they are compliant;
• when the compliance deadline is;
• what the penalties are for not complying.

ESOS_GIB Procedure Step by Step 

1. Find out if you qualify.
2. If you do, register with the Department of Environment and Climate Change.
3. Complete an ESOS assessment.
4. Submit your ESOS notification of compliance.
5. Find out if you qualify

ESOS applies to large organisations and their corporate groups.  It mainly affects businesses but can also apply to not-for-profit bodies and any other non-public sector organisation that is large enough to meet the qualification criteria.

Your organisation qualifies for ESOS Phase II if, on 31 December 2018, it meets the ESOS definition of a large organisation.

Corporate groups qualify if at least one Gibraltar group member meets the ESOS definition of a large organisation.

If you are very close to the qualification threshold read the full ESOS guidance which includes additional information on how to assess if you qualify.

For more information on organisations that do not need to comply see section 1.2 of the full ESOS guidance.

Large organisations

A large organisation is:

• any Gibraltar company that either:
  • employs 250 or more people, or
  • has an annual turnover in excess of 50 million euro (£44,845,000), and an annual balance sheet total in excess of 43 million euro (£38,566,700).
• an overseas company with a Gibraltar registered establishment which has 250 or more Gibraltar employees (paying income tax in Gibraltar).

You must take part in ESOS if your undertaking is part of a corporate group which includes another Gibraltar undertaking or Gibraltar establishment which meets these criteria. Where a corporate group participates in ESOS, unless otherwise agreed, the highest parent will act as a ‘responsible undertaking' and be responsible for ensuring the group as a whole complies.

Gibraltar registered establishments of an overseas company will also need to take part in ESOS (regardless of their size) if any other part of their global corporate group activities meet the ESOS qualifying criteria.  An ‘establishment' is a branch within the meaning of the Eleventh Company Law Directive (89/666/EEC), or a place of business that is not such a branch where there is some degree of physical presence in Gibraltar.

The financial qualification thresholds are specified in the ESOS regulations in euros. The equivalent pound sterling figures were determined for the second compliance period based on the Bank of England daily spot exchange rate on 31 December 2018 (the qualification date).

To find out if you qualify take your employee numbers, turnover and balance sheet totals from the accounts for the financial year ending either:

• on the qualification date of 31 December 2018.
• in the 12 months immediately preceding the qualification date of 31 December 2018.

If you are very close to the qualification threshold in 2018 read the full ESOS guidance which includes additional information on how to assess if you qualify.

A person is employed by an undertaking if they are:

• an employee.
• an owner / manager.
• a partner.

An‘employee' is a person employed under contracts of service. Their contracted hours and status (full time / part time) are irrelevant to their classification as an employee.

The number of employees means the average number of people employed by the undertaking in the year.

To work out your average number of employees, you need to:

1. Find the number of people employed by the company for each month of the financial year (whether for the whole month or part of it).
2. Add together the monthly totals.
3. Divide by the number of months in the financial year.

Qualification for Phase II is based on the status of your organisation on 31 December 2018, and every *four years after that for each subsequent compliance period.

If your organisation qualifies, you must participate in ESOS and notify compliance to the Department of Environment and Climate Change by the last date of each compliance period (‘the compliance date’).  If your status changes after the qualification date for a compliance period, this will not affect your eligibility for ESOS.  You will still need to comply by the compliance date for the period if you qualified for the scheme on the qualification date.

The table below shows the qualification dates, compliance periods and compliance dates for each phase of the scheme.

2. Register

Organisations who meet the specified criteria must register with the Department of the Environment and Climate Change by December 31^st 2018. 

Qualifying organisations can register by emailing the Department at esos.environment@gibraltar.gov.gi; stating their Company name, address, contact details, person responsible for ensuring compliance with ESOS  and name of your Lead Assessor (if assigned).

3. Complete an ESOS assessment

If you qualify for ESOS and your organisation is fully covered by ISO 50001, you do not need to carry out an ESOS assessment. You just need to notify the Department of the Environment and Climate Change that you are compliant with ESOS via email at esos.environment@gibraltar.gov.gi.

If you qualify for ESOS, but your organisation is not fully covered by ISO 50001, you need to carry out an ESOS assessment. The assessment helps you work out what your organisation needs to do to comply with the ESOS regulations.

The assessment takes into account energy directly covered by Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), or ISO 50001.

For your assessment, you need to:

1. Calculate your total energy consumption

This is the energy used by assets held or activities carried out by your organisation or group. This includes the energy consumed by buildings, industrial processes and transport. To find out how to calculate your total energy consumption read the full ESOS guidance.

2. Identify your areas of significant energy consumption

This is the energy used by assets held, or activities carried out, by your organisation that account for at least 90% of your total energy consumption. You then need to:

1. Find out whether ISO 50001 or EPCs, cover any of your areas of significant energy consumption.
2. Identify whether ESOS compliant energy audits have been, or need to be, carried out for the areas of significant energy consumption not covered by ISO 50001 or EPCs.

As long as 90% of your total energy consumption is covered, you can use a mix of approaches with some of your energy consumption covered by ISO 50001; some by EPCs and some by ESOS energy audits.

3. Appoint a lead assessor

You need to appoint a lead assessor to carry out and oversee or review your energy audits and overall ESOS assessment. Lead assessors can be employees or external contractors as long as they are members of an approved professional body register.  

It is your responsibility to select a lead assessor with the necessary skills and experience to help your business comply with ESOS.

See Government Accredited Energy Auditors for list of approved lead assessors.

4. Notify the Department of the Environment and Climate Change

You need to submit your ESOS notification of compliance to the Department of the Environment and Climate Change when you have undertaken an ESOS assessment and are compliant with your obligations via email at esos.environment@gibraltar.gov.gi.

You must do this by 5^th December 2019 for ESOS Phase II, and if applicable, every 4 years afterwards.

- ESOS Notification Form

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5. Keep records

You need to keep records of how you have complied with ESOS in an evidence pack. There is no set format for this.

4. Submit your ESOS notification of compliance

When you have completed your ESOS assessment you must submit a notification of compliance.

The notification includes details about your organisation and how it has complied. You do not need to provide energy data.

Your submission must be as accurate as possible. If the information you submitted is inaccurate, email esos.environment@gibraltar.gov.gi, quoting the original submission date and the name of the organisation for which you made the notification.

Compliance Period deadline for submission of ESOS Notification Form for Phase II is December 5^th 2019.

Government Accredited Lead Energy Assessors

The following individuals have undertaken the necessary training and are accredited as ESOS Lead Energy Assessors under the Government of Gibraltar ESOS Accreditation Scheme.

If you want to become a lead assessor you have to be (or become) a member of an approved professional body register. Individuals cannot apply directly to the Department of the Environment and Climate Change to be approved.

Approved register of ESOS Lead Assessors

All participants need to have their ESOS assessment signed off by an ESOS lead assessor. 

To become an ESOS lead assessor you need to be a member of an approved professional body register. Contact the approved organisations if you need further information about their application processes and/or approved lead assessors on their registers. 

Approved registers of ESOS Lead Assessors - organisation and name of register:

• Association of Energy Engineers - certified energy auditor international CEA-I.
• Association of Energy Engineers - certified energy manager international (CEM-I).
• CIBSE (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) - CIBSE low carbon consultant (LCC) register, ESOS lead assessor subset.
• ECMK Limited - ECMK ESOS lead assessor register.
• Elmhurst Energy Systems - Elmhurst approved ESOS lead assessor.
• Energy Institute (EI) - chartered energy manager.
• Energy Institute (EI) - register of professional energy consultants (RPEC).
• Institution of Chemical Engineers - register of chartered chemical engineers (MIChemE/FIChemE) ESOS LEA.
• Institution of Environmental Sciences - IES lead energy assessor.
• National Energy Services Limited - National Energy Services ESOS register.
• Quidos - ESOSRegister.com.
• Stroma Certification Ltd - ESOS lead energy assessor certification.
• The Energy Managers Association - EMA energy saving opportunity scheme lead assessor register.
• The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment - environmental auditor and full membership of IEMA (ESOS lead assessor subset).
• The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment - principal environmental auditor (ESOS lead assessor subset).

Professional bodies can submit registers of their members for approval for them to act as ESOS lead assessors.

Minimum criteria for Energy Audits

The Energy Efficiency Directive stipulates minimum criteria for energy audits, as defined by Annex VI of Directive.

Energy audits shall be based on the following guidelines:

1. be based on up-to-date, measured, traceable operational data on energy consumption and (for electricity) load profiles;
2. comprise a detailed review of the energy consumption profile of buildings or groups of buildings, industrial operations or installations, including transportation;
3. build, whenever possible, on life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) instead of Simple Payback Periods (SPP) in order to take account of long-term savings, residual values of long-term investments and discount rates;
4. be proportionate, and sufficiently representative to permit the drawing of a reliable picture of overall energy performance and the reliable identification of the most significant opportunities for improvement.

Energy audits shall allow detailed and validated calculations for the proposed measures so as to provide clear information on potential savings.

The data used in energy audits shall be storable for historical analysis and tracking performance.

ESOS compliant energy audits

An ESOS compliant energy audit must meet these criteria:

1. It must be based on 12 months' verifiable data

The data must:

• be for a continuous period;
• begin no earlier than 6 December 2014 for the second compliance period (and no more than 12 months before the start of future compliance periods);
• begin no more than 24 months before the start of the energy audit;
• not have been used as the basis for an energy audit in a previous compliance period.

2. It must analyse the participant's energy consumption and energy efficiency

This must be done using energy consumption profiling. Energy consumption profiling involves breaking down the different ways in which energy is used by a participant's activities and assets and analysing any variations in energy use to identify inefficiencies.

3. It must identify energy saving opportunities

Energy saving opportunities should be reasonably practicable and cost effective to implement. Recommendations should include the estimated costs and benefits of implementation.  You should assess cost effectiveness by comparing the reduction in units of energy or energy spend with the cost of implementing the measure.  Calculating the cost of implementing a measure should be based on an analysis of whether the investment will be economical over its entire life. This would include taking into account the cost of purchase, installation, maintenance and depreciation.

There is no regulatory requirement for participants to implement the energy saving opportunities identified. This is for each organisation to determine for themselves.

Site visits during an audit

Organisations are expected to carry out site visits as part of their ESOS audits. It is not necessary to visit every site. Regardless of the number of site visits, organisations need to ensure they have collected and analysed data for all their areas of significant energy consumption.

Organisations with multiple sites or assets that are identical or very similar can take a proportionate approach and apply the energy saving opportunities identified in their site visits to their wider portfolio. The lead assessor and participant organisation should determine a suitable site visit sampling approach to reflect the energy consumption patterns of their assets and activities. This is not prescribed in legislation or guidance; it is up to your organisation and lead assessor to agree this.

You need to explain in your evidence pack how the approach you took reflects the energy consumption patterns and saving opportunities for your portfolio of assets and activities. In a compliance audit the regulators will look for well-reasoned and documented justifications for the approach you took.

If you're not compliant by 5^th December 2019

You must inform the Department of the Environment and Climate Change prior to the 5^th of December 2019; if you cannot submit a notification of compliance. You should email the Department at esos.environment@gibraltar.gov.gi to explain why the organisation will miss the compliance deadline and when you expect to be able to comply.

Qualifying organisations that do not complete and notify a compliance assessment by 6^th December 2019 will be in breach of the regulations and at risk of enforcement action and penalties.

ESOS Regulation and Penalties

The Department for the Environment and Climate Change is responsible for compliance and enforcement activities.  The regulator may issue civil sanctions including financial penalties if an organisation does not meet the scheme's obligations.

Read the Department of the Environment and Climate Change's approach to ESOS regulation and penalties in Part 8 of the ESOS Regulations.  This approach is also summarised in section 9 of the full ESOS guidance document. 

- ESOS guidance.

How much will an Energy Audit Cost?

The price of an energy audit will be set by the market and not by Government.  These costs are expected to vary according to size, type and complexity, of the organisation.

More information about ESOS

More details on the ESOS scheme, your obligations and how to comply, are set out in the full ESOS guidance document.

For any further information required please contact the Department of the Environment and Climate Change on esos.environment@gibraltar.gov.gi or Tel: 20048450.  

Send your queries well in advance of each compliance deadline to ensure you have enough time to fulfil your obligations.

ESOS Phase I Criteria

Qualification date: 31^st December 2014.

Compliance period: From 06 October 2016* to 5 December 2016

Compliance date: 5 December 2016

A large organisation under ESOS Phase I is defined as:

• any Gibraltar company that either:
  • employs 250 or more people, or
  • has an annual turnover in excess of 50 million euro (£38,937,777), and an annual balance sheet total in excess of 43 million euro (£33,486,489).

an overseas company with a Gibraltar registered establishment which has 250 or more Gibraltar employees (paying income tax in Gibraltar).

- ESOS Guidance Document - Phase I