Walloon green certificates levy - Partial exemptions
Elia partially exempts eligible customers from the first component of the Walloon green certificates levy.
Who qualifies?
A partial exemption from the first component of the Walloon green certificates levy is granted to the final customers mentioned in the guidelines published by the administrative authority (namely the beneficiaries referred to in Article 42 bis of the Decree on the organisation of the regional electricity market).
When?
Partial exemptions, after deduction of the second component of the levy, are refunded to the relevant beneficiaries by their supplier or access holder, after they have themselves been refunded by the local transmission system operator.
Overview of refunds made since 2018
The timetable for refunds is set out in the guidelines published by the administrative authority. An administrative authority communication relates to the consumption months in the previous quarter and any adjustments from previous months.
| Situation as at 12 March 2024 | |
| Time of communication by CWaPE | Status of exemption refunds |
| February 2024 | Refunds made |
| November 2023 | Refunds made |
| August 2023 | Refunds made |
| May 2023 | Refunds made |
| February 2023 | Refunds made |
| November 2022 | Refunds made |
| August 2022 | Refunds made |
| May 2022 | Refunds made |
| February 2022 | Refunds made |
All refunds relating to previous years have been made.
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General practical procedure for refunding partial exemptionsIn accordance with Article 42 bis, §8, para. 3 of the Decree, Elia refunds the partial exemption amounts within a month after receiving the information provided by the administrative authority in so far as these amounts are covered by the surpluses of the levy.After consulting stakeholders, the administrative authority drew up guidelines setting out its chosen general methodology for applying and monitoring implementation of the partial exemption from the first component of the Walloon green certificates levy. These guidelines also include a description of the normal process for refunding partial exemptions.
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Specific practical procedure if refunding of partial exemptions is deferredIf the surpluses from the levy referred to in Article 42 bis, §1 of the Decree do not cover all or some of the amounts to be refunded by the local transmission system operator, Elia has to defer payment of the refunds in question, in accordance with Article 42 bis, §8, para. 3 of the Decree. Accordingly, the payment due date depends on the subsequent observation that the levy has returned to a surplus position.As soon as surpluses are available again, Elia pays the outstanding amounts. If the outstanding amounts are not fully covered, the payments are prioritised according to chronological order of consumption, month by month.In practice, this means in particular that:
- refunds are made for all relevant access holders and suppliers in a given consumption month;
- the refunds made relate to the whole of a given month (no partial refund of a monthly amount communicated by the administrative authority);
- refunding of exemptions is prioritised chronologically based on the consumption month (regardless of the time of communication by the administrative authority);
- refunds are made based on the cumulative amount resulting from all the information relating to the same supplier or access holder and to the same consumption month (multiple communications with corrections).
The deferral of a payment relates to the balance between the refund of exemptions and the application of the second component of the levy. The deferral of payment therefore entails the simultaneous deferral of the collection of the second component of the levy for the supplier or access holder for the month in question.As stated in section 5.1 of the administrative authority's guidelines, information is communicated to the administrative authority quarterly, specifying the volumes for each month. This process is not affected by any deferral of exemption refunds.
Important change
Under the Transfer Decree adopted by the Walloon Parliament on 31 January 2019, which amends the Decree of 12 April 2001 on the organisation of the regional electricity market and the Decree of 19 December 2002 on the organisation of the regional gas market, the Walloon Public Service for Spatial Planning, Housing, Heritage and Energy took over responsibility for implementing and monitoring partial exemptions from the Walloon green certificates levy on 1 May 2019. For the purposes of the guidelines presented here, the term 'administrative authority' should be understood as referring to CWaPE before 30 April 2019 and the Walloon Public Service for Spatial Planning, Housing, Heritage and Energy from 1 May 2019 onwards.
