PARIS: The rising cost of funding renewable energy means utility EDF and other French power providers face an 11 percent rise next year in a surcharge they pay that is used to subsidise the renewable sector, the energy watchdog said on Thursday.
That is less than the 17 percent rise this year, however.
France’s energy watchdog, CRE, said the surcharge needs to raise 7 billion euros ($7.7 bln) in 2016, up 11 percent from this year.
“The increase in the cost between 2014 and 2016 is due to the development of solar and wind energy sectors, which represent 39 percent and 17 percent respectively of the total estimated surcharge,” CRE said in a statement.
To cover the surcharge, heavily indebted EDF levies a tax on French households’ electricity bills, called CSPE.
But in recent years, the government has refrained from increasing the CSPE enough to cover these costs to EDF so as to preserve French households’ spending power.
The regulator said the shortfall suffered by EDF by the end 2016 would be 3.4 billion euros, down from 5.5 billion euros in 2014.
The rising cost of funding renewable energy has also been a prominent issue in Germany, where solar and wind power capacity has risen faster than in France and has led to higher electricity bills for households.
France passed a new energy bill in August in which renewable energy production will need to increase rapidly to provide 40 percent of France’s electricity requirements.
