On 23 July 2020, the CRE published its decision setting the final amount of the allocation from the Electricity Equalisation Fund (fonds de péréquation del’électricité) to SEI, Électricité de Mayotte and Gérédis, the three operators that opted for assessment based on the CRE’s analysis of their accounts. SEI’s allocation is set at €198.5 million for 2020.
The ministerial order of 22 October 2020 describes the contributions payable and allocations receivable from the Electricity Equalisation Fund for operators in the distribution network it covers for 2020. The fixed contributions due by StrasbourgÉlectricité Réseaux and Enedis amount to €2.5 million and €27.7 million respectively.
The ARENH(1) scheme for regulated access to historic nuclear power, set upin 2011, entitles alternative suppliers to purchase electricity from EDF to supply their final customers, after signing a framework agreement, at a regulated price for set quantities determined under the provisions of the French Energy Code. This scheme is also open to network operators to cover their energy losses.
The ARENH price, determined by the Ministers for Energy and the Economy following a proposal by the CRE, has been maintained at €42/MWh sinceJanuary 2012. This includes delivery of the electricity and is considered to incorporate the associated capacity guarantees.
The maximum total volume that can be sold under the ARENH system to suppliers who apply to the scheme to cover the needs of their final customers was initially set at 100TWh per year.
In decision 2020-277 of 12 November 2020, as required by the Energy Code, the CRE set out the method for allocating ARENH volumes if applications exceed the maximum total volume defined for 2021. This decision stipulated that if theARENH was oversubscribed in November 2020, curtailment would only apply to new ARENH applications made in the session concerned.
It also stated that EDF-controlled subsidiaries’ excess applications would be fully curtailed (this does not apply to network operators) and they could enter into contracts with the parent company that replicate the ARENH system and terms of supply, particularly the curtailment rate for alternative suppliers. In the method proposed by the CRE in decision 2020-002 concerning regulated sales tariffs for electricity, this curtailment mechanism, when applied, makes reference to market prices more influential in determining regulated sales tariffs.
Decree 2020-1414 of 19 November 2020 modified the regulatory section of the Energy Code concerning the ARENH and CSPE mechanisms, setting out the method for allocating the ARENH price supplement paid between suppliers and EDF, and assigning to the CRE the task of defining the methods for calculation and allocation of the ARENH price supplement if the maximum volume is reached.
The same decree modified the measures applicable in the event of default on payment, stipulating that the purchaser concerned is banned from ARENH sales for a one-year period as soon as the electricity transfer is first stopped.
The Energy and Climate law of 8 November 2019 introduced new measures. It raised this initial 100TWh ceiling to 150TWh from 1 January 2020, allowing theFrench government to raise the maximum total volume of ARENH deliveries above100TWh, and to revise the ARENH price by ministerial decision during a transition period. However, the Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition announced that no change would be made to the ARENH price or volume for 2021.
ARENH applications during the November 2020 session for delivery in 2021 totalled 146.2TWh (excluding applications from EDF subsidiaries). Since the maximum total volume has not been modified, the volume to be delivered totalled 100TWh and as in the previous year the CRE curtailed each supplier’s application. Further volumes were also sold by EDF to its subsidiaries through contracts that replicate the ARENH mechanism, and to compensate for network losses (26.3TWh).
In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, in decision 2020-071 of 26 March 2020the CRE introduced measures in favour of suppliers with respect to the ARENH mechanism. These measures consisted of cancelling the “CP2(2) ” penalty for excessive ARENH applications for the year 2020, and deferring settlement of ARENH invoices upon request by the supplier, under the terms defined in ordinance 2020-316 of 25 March 2020 on settlement of invoices, as detailed in CRE decision 2020-076 of 9 April 2020.
EDF has also offered special payment terms to small suppliers in a fragile position.The application methods for these terms were established by CRE decision 2020-076 of 9 April 2020.
Litigation relating to the ARENH mechanism has also been instigated by some energy suppliers in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Details are provided in note 1.4.1.
In its decision 2020-315 of 17 December 2020, the CRE proposed changes to the ARENH master agreement model to incorporate the modifications introduced by decree 2020 -1414 and in decisions 2020 -277 of 12 November 2020 and 2020 -285 of 2 December 2020, the CRE set out the methods for calculation and allocation of the ARENH price supplement if the maximum volume is reached.
(1) Accès Régulé à l’Énergie Nucléaire Historique.
(2) Penalties for excessive ARENH applications.
