On Monday 22 December, the European Commission approved the reform of the French capacity mechanism in the electricity sector.
Its aim is to guarantee security of electricity supply during the delivery periods from November to March. This measure will run for ten years as of November 2026.
The transmission system operator (TSO) remunerates all the capacity needed to meet the reliability standard, namely the maximum acceptable hours of lost load per year that the system must meet to ensure adequate security of supply. Lost load is the amount of electrical demand that cannot be met due to supply interruptions. The reliability standard has been established based on France's national resource adequacy assessment.
The capacity mechanism will be open to all projects that offer to be available during periods of scarcity. Beneficiaries will be selected through two transparent, non-discriminatory bidding processes. Based on historical data from the existing capacity mechanism in place since 2016, the budget of the measure is estimated at €2 billion per year, totalling €20 billion over the 10-year period, subject to the results of each capacity auction.
The measure will be open to projects located in France and Belgium as of the first auctions. France commits to allowing all other neighbouring Member States to participate as soon as possible. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)