The Spanish steelmakers association UNESID has criticized the European Union’s (EU) Clean Industrial Pact and Action Plan for Affordable Energy as insufficient, given that these measures do not effectively offers solutions for the high energy costs affecting the European steel industry.
The association underlined that wholesale energy prices in the EU are still above historical levels and are two to four times higher than those in countries such as the US and China. It stated that the European Commission (EC) has proposed some solutions such as the long-term power purchase agreements to reduce industrial energy costs. However, since these measures do not pass on the reduced generation costs of renewable energy to the industry, they have yet to offer any concrete benefits. UNESID believes that higher energy costs will sustain without a structural reform in the EU’s energy market.
As a result, UNESID has called on the EC to prepare clear guidelines for designing and implementing agreements that guarantee stable and competitive energy prices for energy-intensive industries. Even though low-carbon energy investments are the right move, their effects will be seen in the medium and long term, it said. Also, the industry is in need of immediate solutions to sustain and to remain competitive in the global market, it added.
“The European steel sector faces an unsustainable situation if structural measures are not adopted to reduce the cost of energy. We cannot wait years for investments in low-carbon energy to have an effect; we need immediate solutions to guarantee the competitiveness and viability of our industry and to advance decarbonization without putting thousands of jobs at risk,” Carola Hermoso, director general of UNESID, commented.