BICS is worth up to a 25% cut in electricity bills — industry estimates put it around £35–40/MWh of eligible consumption — plus a one-off payment backdating support to April 2026. On a mid-size manufacturer using 6 GWh a year, that’s an indicative £220,000 or so annually; on a 25 GWh site, closer to £925,000. Your real figure depends on your confirmed band and site mix.
The examples below apply a mid-range £37/MWh to realistic annual volumes across five manufacturer profiles. They are illustrative — built to show the shape of the numbers, not to quote your business. The figure that matters is your confirmed band applied to your metered consumption, after the site-mix rules.
Indicative annual savings by profile
| Manufacturer profile | Illustrative annual electricity | Indicative saving (~£37/MWh) | + one-off backdated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craft food / drink producer | 1.5 GWh | ~£55,000 / yr | ~£55k one-off |
| Mid-size food processor | 6 GWh | ~£220,000 / yr | ~£220k one-off |
| Plastics manufacturer | 12 GWh | ~£445,000 / yr | ~£445k one-off |
| Metals / foundry | 25 GWh | ~£925,000 / yr | ~£925k one-off |
| Large chemicals site | 60 GWh | ~£2.22m / yr | ~£2.22m one-off |
All figures illustrative. The one-off backdated payment is shown as roughly a year-equivalent to reflect support from April 2026; the actual mechanism and value are set by DBT. Real savings scale to your confirmed band and the eligible share of each site’s consumption.
How to read these numbers for your site
Three things move a real figure away from the headline:
- Site mix. Savings apply to the eligible share of each site’s electricity, above the 25% floor. A site at 60% eligible use captures roughly 60% of the gross figure — which is why the mixed-site banding is where the money is made or lost.
- Confirmed band. The £35–40/MWh range is an estimate; your actual band determines where in (or outside) that range you land.
- Consumption profile. The value is per MWh of eligible use, so the bigger and more electricity-intensive the eligible process, the larger the absolute saving.
Because relief only switches on in April 2027, being confirmed in the first window also unlocks a one-off payment reflecting support back to April 2026. For a 6 GWh processor that’s an extra ~£220k on top of the annual saving — real cash that depends entirely on making the 30 November window.
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