British Glass supports the UK Government’s strategy to make electricity costs more competitive for the UK glass industry.
The Modern Industrial Strategy 2025 is a 10-year plan to increase business investment and grow the industries of the future in the UK.
An uplift in the Network Charge Compensation, from 60-90%, will be provided in the Industrial Strategy from 2026.
This will give the UK glass sector a similar electricity cost to EU competitors.
British Glass also welcomes the focus on connection reforms.
These can act as a barrier to its members accessing grid connections to facilitate decarbonisation through electrification or hydrogen assets.
The organisation said it was disappointed not to see a commitment to similar electrification business models, given that comparable Carbon Contracts for Difference schemes for energy-intensive industries are already in place in the EU.
Even with the support announced in the Industrial Strategy, this will not address the disparity between fossil fuels and electricity.
It will also not incentivise decarbonisation investment in the electrification of glass furnaces in the UK relative to other EU countries, such as France and Germany.
