On Thursday 1 December, the European Commission authorised a French scheme to grant partial compensation to energy-intensive companies facing higher electricity prices as a result of indirect emissions costs under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS).
The scheme notified by France, with a total estimated budget of €13.5 billion, will cover part of the increase in electricity prices resulting from the impact of carbon prices on electricity production costs between 2021 and 2030.
Compensation will be granted to eligible companies in the form of a partial reimbursement of the indirect emissions costs incurred in the previous year.
Given the time needed to prepare the measure and the exceptional circumstances of the current energy crisis, the deadline for the payment of aid for the year 2021 is 28 April 2023.
The maximum amount of aid per beneficiary will be 75% of these costs. In some cases, this maximum amount may be higher to limit the remaining costs of indirect emissions to 1.5% of the company’s gross value added.
The measure will apply a market-based CO2 emission factor of 0.51 tCO2/MWh. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)