The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has stated that the revisions in the EU Electricity Market Design by the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee of the European Parliament do not address the root causes of high electricity prices, thereby hindering decarbonization efforts and undermining the competitiveness of the European steel industry.
The given revisions introduce several improvements in dealing with new crises, such as clearer criteria to define emergency situations. However, EUROFER said that it has a limited impact in bringing electricity prices down to a sustainable level in the short-term.
Stating that structural solutions still need to be found to ensure competitive electricity prices in the short term, the association calls on the European Parliament and Council to assess alternative market designs.
EUROFER estimates that the transition to low-carbon technologies for green steelmaking based on hydrogen will boost the European steel industry’s electricity consumption from the current annual 75 TWh to 165 TWh by 2030 and up to 400 TWh by 2050. The association sees risks for over €30 billion of investments to produce low-carbon steel in the EU if their operating costs are unsustainable due to non-competitive and unaffordable electricity prices in Europe.