The European Commission has proposed the revision of the EU’s Electricity Market Design (EDM) reform, aiming to protect consumers from the price volatility of fossil fuels and to give them more direct access to renewable energy. However, the European Steel Association (EUROFER) has called for a deeper reform that delivers internationally competitive fossil-free energy for industry’s decarbonization. EUROFER stated that it remains unclear how industrial energy consumers will be able to access the large quantities of renewable and low-carbon electricity needed for their decarbonization in the coming years.
“The European electricity market is experiencing a significant price shock, just when our steelmakers accelerate their decarbonization efforts,” Axel Eggert, director general of EUROFER, said. According to EUROFER, this review is the last chance to urgently boost power capacity volumes while ensuring affordability and sustainability objectives. Yet, in its current form it falls short of the industry’s expectations.
Today, the steel sector consumes around 75 TWh of electricity annually. The transition to low-carbon technologies will raise electricity consumption to around 160 TWh by 2030 and to 400 TWh by 2050.
Stating that the reform should strive to ensure affordable prices in the short-term electricity markets and improve access to long-term contracts for energy-intensive industries, EUROFER noted that other non-market-based instruments to support the competitiveness of industry should also be allowed for as long as necessary, such as regulated electricity tariffs for energy-intensive industries, or exemptions and derogations from levies and taxes.
