Business Energy Scotland: key facts
What is Business Energy Scotland?
Business Energy Scotland is a free, Scottish Government-funded energy-saving service for small and medium-sized businesses and charities. Its own site says it "is funded by the Scottish Government" and "is managed by Energy Saving Trust". It launched in April 2022, taking over from the Energy Efficiency Business Support Service previously run by Zero Waste Scotland.
It does two things:
- Free, impartial advice. A Business Energy Advisor, backed by technical specialists, looks at how you use energy for heating, lighting and power, checks renewable options, and writes you a report of recommendations.
- Access to funding. That report is your route into the SME Loan, an interest-free Scottish Government loan with cashback. Energy Saving Trust assesses applications, runs the credit checks and makes the offers.
We are not Business Energy Scotland. Great British Energy (greatbritishenergy.com) is an independent guide. We don't give advice reports, loans or cashback. To get either, contact Business Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2268 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm) or through businessenergyscotland.org. Where we help is the quotes: the loan needs installer quotes, and we can introduce you to one installer to provide them.
Business or home? Business Energy Scotland is for business premises. Home Energy Scotland is the separate service for households, and Business Energy Scotland sends private landlords there too. For homeowner grants, see energy grants in Scotland.
The SME Loan: amounts, cashback and terms
The SME Loan is interest-free, unsecured and repaid over up to 8 years (you can ask for a shorter term). On top of the loan, eligible measures get cashback: money you don't repay. Here's what each type of work gets, from the Business Energy Scotland FAQs checked on 30 October 2026.
| Measure | Interest-free loan | Cashback |
|---|---|---|
| Energy efficiency: LED lighting and controls, insulation, glazing, heating controls, BMS, heat recovery, variable speed drives, compressors, commercial fridges, voltage optimisation and more | Yes | 75% of eligible costs, up to £20,000 |
| Air, ground or water source heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar thermal | Yes | 75% of eligible costs, up to £10,000 |
| Air conditioning and air-to-air heat pumps | Yes | Listed as eligible for 75% cashback |
| Wind turbines, micro-hydro, CHP, anaerobic digestion, gas condensing boilers | Yes | None |
| Battery storage | Not stated | None |
| Solar PV | Not accepting new applications | None |
- Loan size: £1,000 to £130,000, across all your loans and applications.
- Cashback ceiling: £30,000 per business across all current and previous applications, allocated first come, first served.
- When cashback is paid: with the loan, after installation, invoicing and any site inspection. You can ask for up to 25% of the loan upfront if your installer's quote requests early payment. Cashback can't be drawn early.
- No double funding: there's no cashback if another Scottish Government grant pays for the same measure.
How the cashback works out: two examples
Our arithmetic using the published rates, not quotes: a £16,000 LED lighting upgrade gets 75% cashback of £12,000, which is under the £20,000 cap, leaving £4,000 that the interest-free loan can cover. A £20,000 heat pump installation would earn 75% (£15,000), but the heat pump cap is £10,000, so cashback is £10,000, leaving £10,000 on the interest-free loan. Your real figures depend on your quotes and what Business Energy Scotland accepts as eligible.
Who is eligible for the Business Energy Scotland SME Loan?
Business Energy Scotland says its eligibility rules are "strictly enforced and cannot be appealed". To apply you must be:
| Test | Rule |
|---|---|
| Where | Based in Scotland, improving premises in Scotland |
| Size | Fewer than 250 full-time equivalent staff, and turnover of no more than €50 million (about £42 million) and/or a balance sheet of no more than €43 million (about £36 million) |
| Ownership | Less than 25% owned by other enterprises, and holding less than 25% of any other enterprise |
| Trading | At least 12 months, with at least one set of annual accounts if asked |
| Credit | A satisfactory credit score and the ability to afford the repayments |
| Who | SMEs, not-for-profit organisations and charities. Charities need a constitution that allows borrowing |
Who can't apply
- Private sector landlords: Business Energy Scotland refers them to Home Energy Scotland.
- Businesses selling heat or energy to third parties, and commercial boats.
- The residential parts of a site (a mixed-use site can qualify for the business share).
- Any site that would become a net exporter of electricity over a year.
- Second-hand equipment, and measures that save less than 0.1 tonnes of CO2e a year.
Renting your premises? You can still apply, but you'll need written permission from your landlord.
Solar PV and the SME Loan: paused for new applications
Business Energy Scotland's FAQ says it plainly: "The scheme is not accepting new applications for solar PV projects." We checked on 30 October 2026. No reopening date is given. Batteries get no cashback either.
Solar can still pay its way for a Scottish business without the loan:
- Tax: Solar panels are special-rate plant for tax. The Annual Investment Allowance (£1 million a year) can write off the cost in year one. Above that, companies can claim the 50% first-year allowance. These are UK-wide. See solar panel capital allowances.
- Business rates: in Scotland, plant installed on a non-domestic property to generate or store power from wholly or mainly renewable sources is left out of rateable value until 31 March 2035. So adding panels or a battery shouldn't raise your rates bill.
- Export payments: The Smart Export Guarantee pays for solar you export, on systems up to 5MW in Great Britain. Suppliers set their own rates; the law only says the rate must be above zero, so shop around.
- No upfront cost: a power purchase agreement puts solar on your roof and sells you the power. See commercial solar PPAs.
Full guides: commercial solar panels, commercial solar panel grants and commercial battery storage.
How to apply to Business Energy Scotland, step by step
You apply to Business Energy Scotland and Energy Saving Trust directly. Here is the route their pages set out, with their timescales.
- Book a free consultation. Fill in the form at businessenergyscotland.org or call 0808 808 2268. Expect about 4 weeks to be assigned an advisor. The first consultation takes 30 to 45 minutes by phone or online.
- Get your report. Your advisor sends a summary of recommendations, typically within 8 weeks of the consultation. Most cases don't need a site visit. A report can support an application for up to four years.
- Get installer quotes. You need quotes for all the work, in Business Energy Scotland's format, and two quotes where the funding is over £25,000. Renewables need MCS-certified kit and installers (except heat systems over 45kW and electricity over 50kW). If the report recommends loft or cavity insulation alongside a new heating system, that has to be done too.
- Apply through the Funding Portal. Tell your advisor you want to apply and they'll request access. Projects must pay back in 20 years or less after cashback.
- Get your offer. Energy Saving Trust aims to decide within 10 working days of a complete application with a signed loan. Offers last six months.
- Install, then claim. Only after the written offer. Submit the invoices to claim the loan and cashback.
Don't start too early. Business Energy Scotland says not to start work, pay deposits or buy materials before you receive a formal written loan offer. Costs incurred before then are ineligible, and the scheme can't fund work retrospectively.
What to fund through the loan: heat pumps, LED and efficiency
With solar off the loan, the cashback goes furthest on the work below. These are the measures an installer can survey and quote for your application.
| Measure | SME Loan cashback | Also worth knowing | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air or ground source heat pump | 75%, up to £10,000 | The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is England and Wales only, so in Scotland this is the main grant-style route | Commercial heat pumps |
| LED lighting and controls | 75%, up to £20,000 (efficiency) | The mercury exemptions for T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes expired in Great Britain on 1 February 2024 | Commercial LED lighting |
| Insulation, glazing, heating controls, BMS | 75%, up to £20,000 (efficiency) | Often required first if you're changing the heating system | Business energy audits |
| Solar PV and batteries | None (solar PV paused) | Tax allowances, the rates exclusion to 2035 and export payments | Commercial solar panels |
| EV chargepoints | Not on the SME Loan list | Workplace Charging Scheme, plus the Transport Scotland rural grant below | Workplace Charging Scheme |
Other Scottish business energy support open today
| Route | What you get | Who it's for | Status (30 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workplace Charging Scheme (UK government) | Up to £500 per socket, capped at 75% of costs, for up to 40 sockets | Businesses, charities, public sector and small accommodation businesses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland | Open until 31 March 2027, its final year |
| Rural and island charge point grant (Transport Scotland, run by Energy Saving Trust) | Up to 100% of purchase and installation costs, up to £5,000, for private staff or fleet chargers | Microbusinesses (9 or fewer staff), sole traders and third sector groups trading 2+ years, on a Scottish island or a Category 5 to 8 postcode in the Scottish Government's urban rural classification | Open, subject to funds |
| Business rates exclusion for renewables | On-site renewable generation and storage plant, and EV charging plant, left out of rateable value | Non-domestic properties in Scotland | Runs to 31 March 2035 |
| Renewable Energy Generation Relief | Up to 100% off rates | Renewable schemes that give community organisations at least 15% of annual profit, or the profit from 0.5MW of capacity | Available |
| Capital allowances (UK-wide) | Annual Investment Allowance of £1 million a year; 50% first-year allowance on special-rate plant for companies | Most businesses | Available |
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | Not available in Scotland. GOV.UK says it is open in England and Wales | - | - |
Large energy users should also look at the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme. For every UK-wide route in one place, see the business energy grants hub. Have premises in Wales too? See Welsh business energy grants.
How we help (and what we don't do)
We don't give advice reports, loans or cashback, and we can't apply for you. Business Energy Scotland and Energy Saving Trust do that. What we do is the step in between: once you know which measures you want, we pass your enquiry to one suitable installer that does commercial work, for a site survey and a quote you can put in your application.
What to have ready
- Your Business Energy Scotland report, or the measures you're considering.
- Twelve months of energy bills for the site.
- The site address and whether you own or lease it (and your landlord's permission if you lease).
- Whether you need a second quote for a project over £25,000.
Remember: get the quote, but don't sign up or pay a deposit until your written loan offer arrives.
Sources checked 30 October 2026
- Business Energy Scotland: About us (funded by the Scottish Government, managed by Energy Saving Trust)
- Business Energy Scotland: Get support (free consultation, advisor, report timescales)
- Business Energy Scotland: SME Loan Scheme and FAQs (solar PV not accepting new applications, checked 30 Oct 2026)
- Energy Saving Trust: Workplace charge point funding for rural and island Scotland (Transport Scotland, updated 29 Oct 2026)
- GOV.UK Find a grant: Workplace Charging Scheme (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- GOV.UK: Electric vehicle chargepoint grants (updated 1 Apr 2026)
- GOV.UK: Boiler Upgrade Scheme, "open to people in England and Wales"
- SSI 2023/32 explanatory note: renewables plant excluded from rating, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2035
- Scotland: Valuation (Plant and Machinery) Amendment Regulations 2023
- mygov.scot: Non-domestic rates reliefs (Renewable Energy Generation Relief)
- HMRC Capital Allowances Manual CA22335: solar panels are special rate
- GOV.UK: full expensing and the 50% first-year allowance
- GOV.UK: Annual Investment Allowance (£1 million)
- Ofgem: Smart Export Guarantee
Great British Energy is an independent guide. We are not affiliated with Great British Energy, the publicly owned energy company (gbe.gov.uk), HM Government, Ofgem or OZEV. Scheme rules and budgets change, so confirm the current position with the scheme administrator before you commit spend. We may receive a fee from the installer we introduce you to.