Soaring electricity prices have claimed its first victim. The supplier Hydroption, specializing in professional clients, was placed in receivership Thursday by the Toulon commercial court, according to information from the specialist press agency GreenUnivers, confirmed in
Figaro
by the company. Hydroption had been in a safeguard procedure since 2018. If the supplier is unknown to the general public, its clients include the mayor of Paris as well as, until very recently, the army and the State.
"We have the ambition to continue operating because we have signed new contracts at current market prices",
assures the president of the company based in Toulon, Michel de Keréver.
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At the end of 2020, Hydroption said it had made the wrong choice to reduce its electricity purchases for 2021, scalded by the very low consumption of its customers last year.
Alas, the Covid-19 has ebbed and the national economy has picked up again.
Its customers have therefore consumed more, forcing the supplier to seek supplies on short-term markets at increasingly prohibitive prices in recent months.
Salty bill
Cornered, Hydroption tried to negotiate with the military and the state purchasing department to review the terms of their contracts.
They preferred to change supplier, even if it means paying more - very high market prices are currently passed on to new customers by all suppliers.
For the state, the bill may be steep.
Hydroption had won a mega-contract of 2.2 TWh in 2020 with the purchasing department for the years 2022 and 2023. The additional cost linked to the change of supplier could amount to several tens of millions of euros.
On the other hand, discussions with the town hall of Paris continue.
But his contract with Hydroption, prepaid upon signing, expires on December 31.