The European Commission has closed two infringement cases against France after the country changed its laws on how hydropower is managed and made part of its hydroelectric capacity available to competitors of Électricité de France (EDF).
The cases concerned the long-term granting of most French hydroelectric concessions to EDF for periods of up to 75 years without a tendering process and under advantageous financial conditions, the Commission explained in a release on Wednesday.
France adopted a new hydropower law — Law No 2026-554 of 29 June 2026 — after an agreement in principle was reached with the Commission in July 2025.
The law replaces the previous concession regime with an authorisation regime and includes a safeguard designed to ensure at least 40% of France’s hydropower capacity is accessible to EDF’s competitors for the next 20 years.
EDF will be required to provide access through “virtual hydropower capacity” by selling products on the wholesale electricity market that offer a high level of flexibility — meaning they can be used to respond quickly to short-term changes in electricity prices.
6 GW initial offer, with regular reviews
EDF will initially offer 6 gigawatts (GW) of virtual hydropower capacity, with the figure reviewed at regular intervals to ensure the 40% threshold is met if overall hydropower capacity changes, the Commission said.
It added that the new framework addressed its competition concerns and it was therefore closing its antitrust infringement case under Articles 106 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
A separate infringement case under EU internal market rules covering the same subject matter — case INFR(2018)2378 — has also been closed.
