France

Getting Electricity in

France

Below is a detailed summary of the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building in France.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare France to 185 other economies.

  • Standardized Company

  • Name of Utility: Electricité de France (EDF)
  • City: Paris

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 The client applies for electricity connection and awaits estimate of connection fees from Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF)

Along with the application, the client needs to submit the following documents:
• information about the company, the site, and the project contact people
• the client’s needed capacity; capacities have to be provided in kVA for Low-Voltage (LV) connections and in kW for Medium-Voltage (MV) connections.
• a list of the client’s electrical equipment so Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) can determine the potential disruptions on their network.
• a ground-plan (« plan de masse ») and an establishing shot (« plan de situation ») to identify the future point of supply
• copy of the planning permission
• the client’s date of final connection (energization)
• a connection authorization (« mandat de raccordement ») (optional)
Agency: Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) 		28 calendar days no charge
* 2 The client obtains external inspection by Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF)

After receiving the application, Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) inspects the site to determine the material needed for the external works and final connection, and will send the client either an estimate of the connection fees or the requirements for the connection, both technical and financial.
Agency: Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) 		1 calendar day no charge
3 The client obtains external works by Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF)

For the works to start, the client needs to pay at least 50% of the estimate of fees.
Electricité Réseau Distribution France then generates an identification number that will be used in all its future communications with the client, and especially when the client will request final connection (energization) from their electricity supplier.
Electricité Réseau Distribution France will also indicate an expected for the end of the external works, a date after which the service can be energized.

As soon as the client has received this information, they can contact their electricity supplier to prepare the supply contract required for final connection.

The connection process might also require works in public or private domain. In this case Electricité Réseau Distribution France takes care of any necessary administrative permits.
These procedures might cause additional delays in the process, but are taken into account in the schedule estimates provided by the utility along with the connection requirements.
Upon receiving the client’s confirmation and payment, Electricité Réseau Distribution France sends the client a mail confirming the date of completion of external works.
Once the works are completed, the client’s private electrical installation or site is connected to the public distribution network. The client should not wait for the external works to end in order to undertake the necessary procedures needed to obtain a conformity certificate (of internal installation) or a supply contract.

In the case where the requested capacity is more than 120 kVA connection consists of a direct connection from a MV/LV substation. Therefore, an extension is carried out until the Main Individual Circuit Breaker. Moreover, aero-underground connections are possible only for capacities below 120 kVA.
Beyond 250 kVA a unit substation is necessary.

Agency: Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) 		47 calendar days EUR 13,413.3
* 4 The client obtains inspection of internal installation and conformity certificate by CONSUEL

The customer can choose any private electrician for the internal wiring.

At the end of the works, they will need to request a conformity certificate from a control body, such as CONSUEL, that will check the entire internal installation to make sure it is conforming to the regulation NF C 15-100. The type of Consuel certificate needed in this case is an "Attestation de conformité "VERTE" ("Locaux à réglementations particulières").

In order to obtain a copy of the form to fill out, the client will need to write to CONSUEL (www.consuel.com). The client will need to attach the establishing shot (plan de situation) to the application.

After the inspection by CONSUEL, the latter either issues a certificate or indicates the changes needed to be made to the installation.
Electricité Réseau Distribution France will check the certificate when carrying out the final connection.

Agency: CONSUEL 		20 calendar days EUR 43.6
5 The client signs a supply contract and obtains meter installation and final connection by Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF)

Once the customer has signed a supply contract with an electricity supplier, the latter will request meter installation and final connection from Electricité Réseau Distribution France on the client’s behalf.
In order to obtain final connection all of the following conditions need to be satisfied:

• all the fees have been settled
• the internal installation is conforming with the regulations
• the client has completed all the works potentially required from them and checked they are conforming with the regulations

Agency: Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) 		4 calendar days EUR 178.4
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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