This article is a contribution to the NNWI Conference 2026: Powering Industrial Decarbonisation.
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Tackling electricity prices for industry is one of the only ways to meet the Government's overriding objective of delivering economic growth. This involves supporting industrial green growth via state-led reform and using industrial strategy as a way of driving change. Providing long-term policy solutions will give the certainty to encourage investment in the very sectors the UK needs to scale.
The UK consistently has some of the highest electricity prices in Europe for industry, with prices 46% above the International Energy Agency member countries’ median. Despite the introduction of policies like the British Industrial Supercharger (BIS), UK manufactures still face damaging price disparity. Even accounting for the BIS, the average price faced by UK steelmakers for 2024/25 is £66/MWh compared to the estimated German prices of £50/MWh and French prices of £43/MWh.
The cost of energy has remained a primary concern for UK manufacturers with over half of our membership classifying it as their biggest challenge over the coming years. The escalating burden of energy prices is playing a determining role on companies’ profitability particularly when coupled with a challenging business environment characterised by heightened capital costs and inconsistent demand. Businesses can only deliver growth if the government takes a serious and holistic approach to tackling high electricity prices for manufacturers.
We have been campaigning to address policy costs from electricity bills and take necessary steps to address the spark gap but longer term our membership agrees that a renewables-led power system is the only way to drive down energy costs for good.
In this space our membership is technology agnostic, they are keen to find a solution that works for them leading to efficiency benefits, cheaper power and ultimately allowing them to electrify operations. This is where the nuclear sector can play a key role in powering British industry.
