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EU approves electricity subsidies for power-thirsty industries
TheCopenhagenPost
September 1st, 2015
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This article is more than 9 years old.
Measures will ease the PSO green energy duty
The EU has approved legislation, enacted in 2014 by Christiansborg, to subsidise the so-called PSO green energy duty for energy-thirsty companies.
The PSO charge was introduced as part of a green energy agreement in 2012, but has been accused of jeopardising Danish competitiveness in industries requiring a lot of power.
READ MORE: Green energy deal finally in place
The EU approval means that 1.1 billion kroner will be targeted to the industry in the form of subsidies.
Lars Christian Lilleholt, the energy, utilities and climate minister, said this is a good thing for Danish business.
“There has been good and close co-operation with the EU about this regime,” he said.
“This means we now have a system that ensures that Danish companies that use a lot of power for production become more competitive in the European market.”
The subsidies will be available to companies in a total of 68 sectors, including cement production, the refining of minerals and the casting of iron products. It is expected that companies will get about 7 øre per kilowatt-hour.
With power comes responsibility
However, in order to receive the subsidy, companies will have to implement a number of energy-saving measures.
“It is reasonable that there be some obligations with the PSO subsidy, so we still ensure that there is focus on energy efficiency in energy-intensive companies. The subsidy is focused on making the companies stronger, but also wiser about how they can get the most out of electricity.”
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