The CRE launches a call for expressions of interest for financial coverage on the futures markets for electricity produced by renewable power plants supported through contracts for difference.

The CRE launches a call for expressions of interest for financial coverage on the futures markets for electricity produced by renewable power plants supported through contracts for difference.

In accordance with the French Energy Code, the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) calculates each year the public service energy charges (CSPE), which cover in particular the costs associated with two support mechanisms for electricity production in mainland France: feed-in tariffs (FiT) and contracts for difference (CfD).

For the past several years, the CfD scheme has been the preferred support scheme for renewable power plants (except for small facilities). The scope of CfD-supported power plants is quickly growing (15.7 TWh which represents 25% of the electricity volumes supported in 2024, and it could represent around 23.9 TWh or 31% of the electricity volumes supported in 2025).

The implementation of partial financial hedging on the futures markets for volumes supported through the CfD scheme, already in place for FiT-supported volumes in France, is therefore a major challenge in terms of public finances. It would provide better protection for the state budget against wholesale price volatility and therefore greater predictability of the related budgetary expenditure or revenue.

Decree No. 2025-577 of June 25, 2025 opens up the possibility for the State to select market players responsible for valuing the CfD-supported volumes, following a public tender.

Aiming to implement such a process, the CRE is launching a call for expressions of interest :

• to gather market players' opinions on how this forward hedging should be implemented;
• to gauge their interest to carry out these forward hedging transactions on behalf of the State, and in particular the maximum volume for which they would be prepared to provide some hedging ;
• to assess the indicative amount of management fees that would be charged for providing such service.

The CRE invites interested parties to submit their contributions by March 5, 2026, at the latest.

Consult the documents and contribute