British government to support steelmakers by reducing electricity costs

UK Secretary of State for Industry Sarah Jones reaffirmed the government’s support for the steel industry at the second meeting of the Steel Industry Council. This is stated in the government’s report.

This support includes a reduction in electricity costs for businesses, which is expected to be more than £300 million this year alone.

The second meeting of the council came as the last measure of the government’s Supercharger package, the Network Charge Compensation (NCC) scheme, comes into effect, bringing electricity costs for steel companies and other energy-intensive industries in line with other major economies.

The first payments to the industry under the NCC scheme will be made in May this year, and will provide over £15 million in electricity price compensation for companies next month alone. Once fully implemented, the total value of these discounts from the Supercharger package is expected to be £320-410 million in 2025 and over £5 billion over the next 10 years.

The government also noted that on March 30, the country completed consultations on the green book of the government’s steel development plan, which received almost 100 responses and recommendations from business leaders and industry experts.

The second meeting of the Steel Industry Council was attended by the heads of the country’s steel companies, including Tata, Liberty, British Steel and others, as well as trade union leaders and the UK Steel Association.

In February of this year, the UK government confirmed its commitment to invest £2.5 billion ($3.15 billion) to support the steel industry and protect jobs in the steel sector. The funds will come partly from the newly created Sovereign Wealth Fund.