A decision by RAE, the Regulatory Authority for Energy, to reduce the the RES-supporting ETMEAR surcharge imposed on electricity bills by approximately 50 million euros in 2018 takes into account a number of key factors, including a 32.36 million-euro RES special account surplus forecast for 2017 by LAGIE, the Electricity Market Operator, a 278.3 million-euro surplus for 2018 anticipated by the operator in 2018, as well as supplier surcharge revenues, which the authority expects to amount to 374.93 million euros this year.

In its decision, RAE also sees a further 169.53 million euros being injected into the RES special account in 2018 from the sale of CO2 emission rights, up from 151.85 million euros in 2017. This forecast presumes an average emission rights cost of 7 euros per ton.

On the contrary, revenues stemming from a special lignite surcharge are expected to drop to 31.9 million euros in 2018 from 33.54 million euros in 2017.

Another key factor taken into account by RAE for its ETMEAR reduction is the wholesale electricity price. The authority sees the System Marginal Price (SMP) averaging 52 euros per MWh in 2018.