Advised EDF Energy During European Commission State Aid Compliance Investigation

In January 2015, the European Commission ("EC") decided that the £16 billion support scheme of the UK Government to EDF Energy was compatible with EU State Aid regulation. The UK government had provided support of a proposed Contract for Differences ("CfD") with EDF for the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point. The EC found that, although the support to EDF included state aid, the aid was permissible following certain modifications brought to the support package. This decision was later upheld by the European General Court in July 2018, following a complaint by Austria.

Compass Lexecon experts supported EDF Energy. We provided economic advice to EDF Energy in its interaction with the Commission officials during the process of investigating the State Aid compliance of the Hinkley Point C arrangements. We conducted a number of economic analyses to verify whether the CfD was consistent with the economic principles of State aid measures adopted by the Commission, and with the Commission’s practice in State aid cases in the energy sector.

The Compass Lexecon team included experts Lorenzo Coppi, Boaz Moselle, Fabien Roques, and Dmitri Perekhodtsev.