Swiss Steel Group is participating in a consortium for renewable energies, the “Initiative EE-Industrie”. This initiative, comprising 19 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Germany, aims to build, operate and utilize wind and photovoltaic plants for self-supply with green electricity.

Based on initial forecasts, the consortium will require a total output of 220 MW of wind power and 80 MW of photovoltaics. This corresponds to around 35-40 modern wind turbines and a ground-mounted PV system of 960,000 square meters.

The importance of a stable and competitive electricity price from sustainable sources for the steel industry cannot be overemphasized, Swiss Steel Group said. Especially on the electric arc furnace route, the focus of the Swiss Steel Group, the availability of affordable green electricity is crucial for further decarbonization efforts.

As a manufacturer on the electric arc furnace route, we are aware of the urgency to diversify our energy sources in order to reduce our carbon footprint even further. The initiative firmly believes that a collaborative approach offers the most promising opportunity to secure much-needed quantities of low-CO₂ energy, leverage bundling effects and optimize the cost of green power generation.

—Frank Koch, CEO of Swiss Steel Group

As a first step, the participating companies have commissioned the development of a practicable and legally secure concept and to determine the economic framework conditions. At the same time, the participants in this initiative are urging politicians to work towards competitive green electricity.

The transformation to CO₂-neutral processes is crucial for the steel industry, and stable energy prices play a central role in this. As a company that is one of Europe’s leading green steel producers, we see it as our responsibility to continue to actively contribute to decarbonization and expand our role as a trendsetter. But to do this, we need a competitive overall price for green electricity. We hope that our joint efforts with the “Initiative EE-Industrie” will not only drive our own green transformation, but also set an example and inspire other companies to follow suit.

—Frank Koch

German electricty consumers—household and industrial—have been suffering from rising and volatile electricity prices for several years.

Average monthly electricity wholesale price in Germany from January 2019 to April 2024. The average wholesale electricity price in Germany declined by almost 40% year-on-year in March 2024. In August 2022, figures reached a record high, at over 469 euros per megawatt-hour. Statista.