Belgium's Parliament has approved the introduction of an energy standard to help reduce electricity costs for energy-intensive companies, allocating nearly €1 billion for the initiative.
Belgian businesses with high electricity consumption pay more for energy than their competitors in neighbouring countries, prompting the government to take action to protect competitiveness while encouraging participation in the energy transition.
The energy standard consists of a temporary and structural approach. Electricity transmission tariffs will be structurally reduced, supplemented by temporary support through the EU’s state aid framework, CISAF.
This will provide energy-intensive companies with targeted discounts of up to 50% on the energy portion of their electricity bills.
In return, companies benefiting from this support will be required to invest in decarbonisation, energy efficiency, and demand-flexibility initiatives.
The total budget for the energy standard during the legislative session is set at nearly €1 billion. Eligible companies and sectors will be identified based on their energy consumption profile.
Energy Minister Mathieu Bihet expressed satisfaction with the decision.
“For fifteen years, there has been talk of an energy standard," Bihet commented. "This government is taking responsibility by finally introducing an ambitious and legally robust mechanism to protect the competitiveness of our businesses.”
While business organisations VBO and Voka have welcomed the measure, they stress the importance of swift implementation.
VBO CEO Pieter Timmermans urged the government and the regional authorities to keep up an ambitious pace in moving this initiative forward.
Voka recommended compensating companies with annual consumption of up to 25 GWh as a priority, as these businesses face the highest excise duties.
Additionally, they called for the remaining funds to be distributed to the regions through a burden-sharing mechanism and for tariff methodology to be updated without delay.
