When ecology rhymes with economy. The renewable energy sector, and in particular wind turbines, will bring in 30.9 billion euros in revenue to the State in 2022-23, reassessed the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) on Tuesday. The energy policeman, who in July estimated this amount at 8.6 billion euros, has revised its forecasts upwards, thanks to the rise in electricity market prices. “CRE provides, under current wholesale price conditions, that all renewable energy sectors in mainland France will represent revenue for the State budget,” she notes.
Within this set, wind power provides the bulk of revenue, to the tune of 21.7 billion euros, the photovoltaic sector for 3.5 billion, the hydraulic sector for 1.7 billion, and the biomethane injected into the networks of gas for 0.9 billion. France owes this favorable situation to the existence since 2003 of a special support mechanism for renewables: the State guarantees a certain level of electricity purchase price to renewable energy operators, who on the other hand pay the difference when market prices exceed this guaranteed price – which is the case today. At this rate, the renewable energy sector should soon have reimbursed everything it has received for twenty years.
These receipts for the State budget will contribute to financing the tariff shields and shock absorbers intended to protect consumers and businesses from soaring energy prices, recalls the CRE. But while the market price context is more favorable to producers, CRE also warns on Tuesday of the early termination of these support contracts by certain renewable energy producers: in July, these termination requests concerned a cumulative installed power of 1 .3 gigawatt (GW); at the end of September, this volume exceeded 3.7 GW.
These cancellations will result in a cumulative loss of 6 to 7 billion euros for the State over 2022 and 2023, estimates the CRE at this stage. “These facilities could only be developed thanks to the financial support of the State from which they benefited over periods generally exceeding 10 years. It is completely abnormal for the producers concerned to withdraw from contracts guaranteed by the State a few years before their expiry to take advantage of high wholesale prices”, adds the commission, which recommends reinforcing the taxation of the infra-marginal rents provided for by the EU for these facilities.