A breath of fresh air for investors

- in France, wind power has become more attractive in 2009 with an increased initial tariff and an exemption from trade tax!


Paris/Freiburg - On 29 December 2008, a new tariff decree became effective in France, after the previous had been nullified due to a formal error. The new tariff decree does not fall short of its predecessor with respect to the feed-in tariff and indexing modalities. Project developers and investors are again able to count on reliable legal regulations.

According to the current decree, wind energy plants for which an application for a power purchase agreement was filed in 2009, will now receive an initial payment of 8,61 Ct/kWh (which was 8,34 Ct/kWh for applications in 2008). Sibylle Weiler, Avocate à la Cour at the French branch is relieved: "The uncertainty since the previous tariff decree had been declared void is over now. The new regulations support the specific objective to expand wind energy in France. We are delighted to forward this signal to investors."


Investment incentives also for wind energy projects

In order to boost the economy, the government of President Sarkozy has decided to exempt all new investments from the Taxe Professionelle (French trade tax). This trade tax is a tax on non-income values, which is collected for all real investments. All assets, which were acquired or produced in the time between 23 October 2008 and 31 December 2009, have been permanently exempted from the trade tax.

"For all wind parks commissioned in 2009, this is a very good message as no Taxe Professionelle will accrue during their operation time", says Françoise Steyer, Avocate at the Paris branch. The communities that are entitled to take the trade tax will receive compensation from the central government for the loss. However, for companies with more than 7.6m € turnover, the Cotisation Minimale (minimum tax) of 1.5% of the marginal return will stay unchanged.

The Franco-German consulting team of Sterr-Kölln & Partner is delighted to inform you about the current general conditions in France and will welcome you to the EWEC in Marseille at stand No 2462, hall 2 from 16 - 19 March 2009.

Sterr-Kölln & Partner offers a multidisciplinary consulting service with offices in Freiburg, Berlin and Paris. We are proficient in the field of renewable energies and energy efficiency and have been working alongside international banks, investors, project developers, producers and communities for more than 12 years.


Paris/Freiburg, 10 March 2009


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