L R AS Published on Saturday 17 September 2022 - n° 416 - Categories:Europe
Are the Commission's measures against PV just window-dressing?
Following the announcement of the taxation of super-profits made by energy companies, SolarPower Europe believes that this
will not affect renewable energy companies, as they have long-term delivery contracts either with the national electricity company (EDF in France) or with users under power purchase agreements.
Initial estimates in Germany suggest that solar companies are not making windfall profits.
PV Tech of 13 September 2022
Editor's note: Long-term contracts signed by energy companies are a prerequisite for the launch of construction projects. These contracts are signed either with the public authorities as part of "purchasing obligations" or as part of PPAs. It would only be on production prior to the start of the contracts that this taxation could be applied, i.e. marginally. This is the case in France and probably in other EU countries, because the construction costs are high and must be backed up by a delivery contract in order to obtain bank credit.
The fact that the European Commission has explicitly mentioned renewable energy companies indicates either that it is unfamiliar with the financial mechanism for building solar or wind power plants, which is a serious matter.or that it wants to show public opinion that it is in the business of recovering superprofits, and is therefore engaging in demagoguery. This attitude is unpleasant.
