Hydroelectricity: France in the sights of the European Commission for two decades

Far behind nuclear power, but ahead of wind and solar power, hydroelectricity is still France's second largest source of electricity, accounting for nearly 14% of production in 2024. But "what future" does the country's hydroelectric dams hold? Marie-Noëlle Battistel already wondered this in 2013, in a previous information report .

On Tuesday, May 13, alongside co-rapporteur Philippe Bolo (MoDem, Maine-et-Loire), the Socialist MP for Isère presented the conclusions of a new fact-finding mission on the "management and operating methods of hydroelectric facilities." The objective: to propose solutions so that the government can finally resolve a two-decade-old dispute with the European Union (EU), and thus enable investment in new capacity.

Legally, the subject is also, and above all, political. Since the early 2000s, as part of the liberalized electricity market , the European Commission has intended to open up the operation of the most powerful dams of the public group EDF to competition. The historic electricity company operates the majority of the country's approximately 340 concessions – the bulk of the power of France's hydroelectric fleet, which also includes approximately 2,300 smaller installations. It far outstrips the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, which has so far been spared. This type of dam is subject to a concession contract with the State, which remains the owner. Around sixty of these contracts, generally concluded for seventy-five years, will expire by December 31; the principle of "rolling deadlines" will then require the concessionaire to pay an additional fee.

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