Guidance

Energy Technology List (ETL) guidance note: completing a new technology proposal form

Updated 21 August 2020

This guidance was withdrawn on 5 July 2024

This content is no longer current. Visit the Energy Technology List Scheme for the latest information.

Introduction

Within the Energy Technology List (ETL) for energy-saving technologies there is a mechanism for proposing the inclusion of other technologies. This process is described as making a New Technology Proposal (NTP).

This document outlines what the ETL is and how to make an NTP. You are encouraged to read this document as it will help you decide whether to make a proposal and, should you go ahead, improve the likelihood that your proposal will be successful.

What is the ETL?

The government introduced the ETL to encourage businesses to invest in low carbon, energy-saving equipment. The ETL details the criteria required for each class of technology to meet high energy efficiency performance standards.

There are currently 16 main technology classes, some of which have one or more sub-technology classes within it. The list presents information on products that meet qualifying ETL performance criteria in all the ‘listed’ technology categories. There are a few categories that aren’t ‘listed’ but still covered by the scheme – see the ETL scheme presentation for manufacturers and suppliers.

Making a New Technology Proposal (NTP)

Purpose of an NTP

A business can propose a new energy-saving technology for consideration to be included in the ETL.

On receipt of an NTP, we undertake a market level examination of the benefits of this proposal. This examination includes:

• assessing the energy and carbon saving characteristics of the technology class
• identifying test standards that can be used to define product characteristics and assess product performance
• consideration of alignment with other government policy measures

Subsequently, all NTPs are reviewed and those that show the best carbon saving potential and cost-effectiveness (in terms of £ per tonne incremental CO2) are further examined.

The NTP process

To ensure consistency in the identification and investigation of new technologies on submission, a 5-stage process is used to evaluate the technology:

1. Submit NTP form

2. Initial assessment

3. Short scoping study

4. Long scoping study

5. Summary submitted to government

The rigorous application of this process ensures all New Technology Proposals are treated fairly and equally and those technologies that show the most promise are presented to government for their consideration.

1. Submit NTP form

A business submits an NTP via ETLQuestions@carbontrust.com. This allows a manufacturer or sole supplier of a potential new technology category to have it considered for inclusion in the ETL.

2. Initial assessment

On receipt of the NTP an initial assessment is conducted within 6 weeks. This is to establish whether the proposed technology category could pass basic ETL scheme requirements and if it offers a UK-wide CO2 saving potential worth investigating further.

3. Short scoping study

Following a positive conclusion from the initial assessment, a rigorous Short Scoping Study would be undertaken. This is conducted in consultation with manufacturers and/or sole suppliers and trade associations to identify if suitable sources of the data on all of the following three aspects exist:

• technology performance
• UK-wide and specific CO2 potential savings
• Market sales potential

The determinant factor at this stage is the identification of high quality information sources that can be made available either by the proposing manufacturer and/or sole supplier and/or their relevant trade association(s). There is a preference for working with groups of manufacturers or trade associations as ultimately, a consensus is required that will cover the entire UK market.

4. Long scoping study

Following a positive conclusion from the Short Scoping Study an in-depth and rigorous Long Scoping Study would be undertaken in consultation with manufacturers/sole suppliers/trade associations to obtain the necessary data on the technology’s performance, UK-wide and specific CO2 saving potential and market potential. The duration of this stage is primarily determined by the quality and timeliness of information being available to us. Confidentiality agreements are available if necessary.

5. Summary submitted to government

Assuming the Long Scoping Study demonstrates a strong business case for inclusion on the ETL a Summary Case would be prepared for submission to government. This document summarises the relevant findings including: energy-saving performance, (potential) market sales, plus the associated (potential) UK-wide CO2 saving. In addition, in support of each summary case a set of detailed qualifying criteria also needs to be compiled in consultation with manufacturers/sole suppliers/trade associations.

An NTP is a mini business case

The submission of an NTP should be considered as a mini business case, used to present the key reasons a technology class (meaning your product(s) and other similar products in the market) should be considered. It is our intention to provide an initial response based upon the technical assessment of the NTP submission within 6 weeks of receipt. Occasionally NTPs fail at this stage because of one of the following reasons:

Reason	Description
Insufficient information	Many proposals are presented with insufficient information upon which to base a technical judgment.
Insufficient carbon saving performance	Each NTP is assessed for carbon saving potential. This means that proposing businesses need to clearly state the CO2 savings and related purchase costs. The expected overall UK-wide CO2 savings to be made from this product should be significant.
Product is actually a sub-component	The product does not, by itself save energy. Rather it is a sub-component of a larger system that saves energy. Therefore, energy savings cannot be attributed to the product with sufficient confidence.
Outside of scheme remit	Patented technologies which are exclusive to one organisation cannot be included.

Guidance on how to respond to the NTP application form questions

In making an NTP, 6 questions are posed. A business needs to give careful consideration to each and every question and should ensure the quality of the responses provided and that they are sufficiently detailed. It should also be noted that these questions have been structured to elicit key information to support the proposed NTP business case. Should insufficient information be provided then it is quite likely that the New Technology Proposal will not be successful.

1. Is your product designed for saving energy, rather than energy generation?

The ETL scheme is focused on supporting technologies with superior energy efficiency, relative to current practice. It is not for supporting alternative power generation. If the product you are proposing generates electricity (for example hydro-electric or solar PV) then it will not be considered for ETL inclusion as it is outside the remit of the ETL scheme.

2. Do you have a description of your proposed technology?

Please take the time to prepare a concise but detailed description of the proposed technology category and/or your product(s). Please:

• provide a definition of the technology class proposed
• detail how your product fits into the proposed technology class
• explain how your product works

Without providing the above information we will be unable to adequately progress your application. Please also note that marketing brochures and sales literature alone do not provide sufficiently detailed information to progress a new technology proposal.

3. Is the technology identifiable as a ‘product’?

The ETL scheme supports unique and identifiable products. In addition, products that fall within the NTP you are making must already be selling at commercially viable volumes and have unique model name(s) and number(s). Examples of products that are supported by the ETL scheme are electric motors, refrigerated display cabinets and biomass boilers. However, bespoke systems, for example one-off systems designed for a particular site, are not supported by the ETL scheme, neither are Patented products.

4. What carbon savings can this product provide?

The technology class and products within it should offer significant carbon savings over current practice. The likely savings of products will be judged on a case-by-case basis. As part of your proposal you will need to give a well thought out estimate of the savings your product will deliver. Such savings need to be based on market data.

5. How would adding the technology to the ETL affect its market sales?

ETL support for a technology should encourage more companies to invest in it, thus providing greater carbon savings. We need to know what incremental sales you think would result if the technology class were to receive ETL support. Please estimate what the price premium is over the less energy-saving products, how much is being spent on this technology now (total market sales value). If possible, please also indicate what impact this would have on its market share. Many NTP applications have failed because insufficient information was provided on the likely market level savings (carbon savings described above multiplied by incremental number of units sold).

6. What is the defined test methodology?

To ensure the best energy-saving technologies are supported by the ETL scheme there is a need to differentiate between energy-saving and non-energy-saving versions of a product. For this to be done in a consistent, repeatable and reliable way one or more test standards need to be available and agreed by industry upon which impartial assessment of product performance can be made. A standard is also required to define exactly what constitutes the ‘product’ in question. This is necessary to prevent some businesses claiming better energy-saving product performance simply by stripping out key energy-consuming components prior to energy-saving testing. Please indicate any widely used or accepted tests to compare the performance of different products in this area.

Key points to include in your proposal

Please provide as much relevant and specific information as possible and ensure you provide responses to questions 1 to 6 in the above NTP guidance.

Explain how your product saves energy and CO2 when compared to the current alternative.

How much energy do you consider a non-energy-saving version of your product would consume (kWh).

Explain how much energy (in kWh) and CO2 (in tCO2) 1 product would typically save in 1 year of operation. Please provide a worked example of how you derive your saving projections.

Provide market information on how many of these products your business sold last year and are likely to sell this year to date. Please use the table below as a format guide.

	Last year	This year
Product sales (£)
Product volume (Units)

Please also provide any assumptions you have made in calculating energy and CO2 savings.

An NTP application could fail due to insufficient energy and CO2 savings information.

What happens next?

Having read this guidance note you should be in a better position to complete the NTP submission form. The questions posed in this document are those that are also on the NTP form. After you have submitted your New Technology Proposal, receipt of it will be acknowledged. All provided information will be examined by us. Proposing businesses should receive notification of the initial assessment of the NTP within 6 weeks of submission.