Steel producers and manufacturing plants in the United Kingdom can reduce their energy costs by up to 47% under a new scheme designed to reduce some of the highest industrial energy costs in Europe.
While some of Britain's European neighbors have taken steps to protect heavy industry due to extremely high energy prices, previous schemes proposed by the UK government have been criticized for not providing enough support to industry. The UK government is currently preparing a more significant response, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS).
To better understand the new scheme, MEPs spoke with Matthew Roberts, managing consultant and technical head of commercial operations at the sustainability consulting company Energise, who has been closely following the development of the scheme.
According to data obtained from FactSet, in 2025, the average price of industrial electricity in the UK was 85 pounds per megawatt hour (100 euros). Roberts told MEPs that BICS could save companies operating in the UK's energy-intensive industries up to 40 pounds per megawatt hour.
"BICS is a flagship event within the framework of the UK industrial strategy," he said. "The aim of the project is clear – to eliminate one of the most serious obstacles to manufacturing in the UK: high energy costs in the industry, which are among the highest in Europe."
Germany, Spain and France are solving the problem of energy costs
Britain's European neighbors have already taken decisive steps to reduce energy costs in industry.
On November 13, the German government agreed on a major package of measures to support heavy industry, which provides for subsidizing electricity tariffs for metallurgical and manufacturing enterprises from January 1, 2026. The scheme aims to address warnings from steel and other energy-intensive producers that high electricity prices threaten their global competitiveness. In 2025, the average price of electricity in Germany was 87 euros per megawatt hour (source: FactSet).
Spanish steel and metalwork manufacturers are already enjoying preferential electricity tariffs, which makes it possible to achieve an average electricity price of about 70 euros per megawatt hour in 2025 (source: A selection of Facts).
Meanwhile, French steel producers often pay significantly less for electricity, despite the lack of
