This item mainly comprises the subsidy received or receivable by EDF in respect of the compensation for public energy charges (CSPE), excluding the annual repayment of the past CSPE receivable and associated interest, reflected in the financial statements through recognition of income of €5,472 million for 2021 (€8,081 million for 2020). The decrease in CSPE income is principally explained by the higher market prices observed in 2021 compared to 2020.
The operating liability corresponding to the CSPE is recorded in “Other liabilities” at 31 December 2021 (see note 13.5).
The compensation mechanism for public energy service charges (compensation des charges de service public de l’énergie) resulted from a reform introduced by France’s amended finance law for 2015, published in the Journal officiel on 30 December 2015. Under the legislative and regulatory framework, public energy service charges (electricity and gas) were to be compensated. Compensation initially came from two State budget items, a special “energy transition” item and a “public energy service” item, but since 1 January 2021 public energy service charges have been compensated entirely through the general budget.
In compensation for the 2021 charges, France’s initial finance law for 2021 introduced a €9.1 billion “public energy service” item in the general budget, to cover additional costs incurred on support contracts (purchase obligations and additional remuneration) for renewable energies and biogas, solidarity charges borne by gas and electricity suppliers, costs associated with support for non-renewable energy production (essentially cogeneration), and the cost of applying the standard national tariffs to zones that are not connected to France’s mainland network.
Income generated by the domestic tax on the final consumption of electricity, now renamed the Compensation for Public Electricity Charges (CSPE) goes directly into the general budget. The CSPE tax is collected directly from final consumers of electricity in the form of an additional levy on the electricity sale price (collected by the suppliers), or directly from electricity producers that produce electricity for their own uses.
The level of the CSPE tax was set in 2016 at a full rate of €22.5/MWh, and eight reduced rates ranging from €12/MWh to €0.5/MWh depending on criteria of electro-intensiveness, business category and the risk of carbon leakage from installations (the risk of industries relocating to countries where greenhouse gas emissions are higher due to their electricity mix). These rates remain unchanged in 2021.
In 2021, net income on deconsolidation and gains on disposal of property, plant and equipment mainly includes:
Other items mainly include costs relating to energy savings certificates used or consumed during the year, additional remuneration paid to producers of electricity from renewable sources in France and losses on non-recoverable operating receivables. The favourable change in other items in 2021 is principally explained by changes in the additional remuneration as a result of higher market prices, and to a smaller extent lower costs relating to energy savings certificates.
The additional remuneration paid to electricity producers using renewable energies was introduced by France’s law on the Energy Transition for green growth. It is a support mechanism intended to guarantee reasonable remuneration for producers who sell their energy directly on the markets, by compensating for the differential between the revenues from those sales and a reference amount. This mechanism complements the purchase obligation system in France.
From the first half of 2020, other items also include income and expenses related to closure of the Fessenheim plant.
In accordance with the application for termination of operations and the declaration of the permanent shutdown of both reactors at Fessenheim nuclear power plant sent by EDF to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition and to the ASN on 30 September 2019, EDF shut down reactor 1 on 22 February 2020 and reactor 2 on 30 June 2020.
On 27 September 2019, due to the cap on nuclear power output set by the “energy transition for green growth” law of 17 August 2015, the French State and EDF signed a protocol agreement whereby the State will compensate EDF for the early closure of Fessenheim.
The compensation paid under the terms of this protocol comprises:
This compensation is recognised as income in profit and loss as and when the associated costs are incurred;
Since its decoupling from the network, the Fessenheim plant has entered a post-operating phase that will last approximately five years. During that period, units 1 and 2 will continue to be operated and maintained as “defueled core” and “evacuated fuel” reactors. This will require a series of technical and administrative operations. A significant milestone was reached on 18 October 2021 when the last two packages of spent fuel were dispatched from Fessenheim unit 1 to the Orano site at La Hague.
All the post-operating expenses and income associated with the closure of the two units in 2020 are recognised in other operating income and expenses. At 31 December 2021, they mainly comprise:
