The group, forced to sell its production at a knockdown price to contain the rise in prices, announced that it had “filed a legal appeal today with the Council of State”.
EDF on Tuesday demanded compensation of 8.34 billion euros from the state following the government’s decision to allocate additional volumes of cheap nuclear electricity to its competitors, a measure intended to limit the rise bills. “EDF today lodged a legal action with the Council of State, and a claim for compensation, for an amount estimated to date at 8.34 billion euros, with the State“, its main shareholder, indicates the group in a press release.
It is in order to contain, as promised, the increase in regulated electricity prices to 4% in 2022 that the government has forced EDF to increase by 20% the annual quota of electricity sold at a reduced price to its competitors, to 120 TWh. (against 100 TWh previously). This sale is made within the framework of the mechanism called “Regulated access to historical nuclear electricity(Arenh), regularly denounced by EDF. The group is thus forced to sell its production at a knockdown price, at a time when electricity is reaching peaks on the wholesale markets. Following this decision, EDF warned ofa plunge in its financial result in 2022attributing it in particular to the raising of the ceiling of the Arenh.
“An in-depth legal analysis”
The state’s decision was formalized in a decree on March 11 and then two decrees. EDF indicated on Tuesday that its approach is based on “an in-depth legal analysis” and “with regard to the damage sufferedunder these texts. “The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EDF had indicated at his annual general meeting that he had sent the State a prior administrative appeal to request the withdrawal of the decree and orders of March 2022 relating to this allocation.of additional nuclear volumes, recalls the group.
Jean-Bernard Levy, whose state now wants to accelerate the succession as part of the planned renationalization of EDF, had indeed announced an appeal in May. “Both the price and the conditions of these allocations penalize us considerably“, he had argued.