The VNU: a new framework to finance nuclear power and liberalize the market
As the ARENH is set to end on January 1, 2026, Opéra Energie interviewed Xavier Blot, Associate Professor at emlyon business school, about the Universal Nuclear Contribution (VNU), a mechanism expected to redefine the balance between nuclear financing, competition, and consumer protection.
From ARENH to VNU: a paradigm shift
Designed as a transitional mechanism, the ARENH helped contain electricity prices but failed to ensure long-term financing for the nuclear fleet. For Xavier Blot, the challenge is primarily structural:
“Are we responding to a short-term interest in purchasing power, or rather to a long-term interest in financing our electrical and nuclear infrastructure?”
The VNU thus marks a shift toward a more market-oriented system, aimed at securing investment while maintaining a competitive framework.
The VNU: liberalization and capture of excess profits
Unlike the ARENH, the VNU gives EDF the freedom to market its production on short- and long-term markets. In return, a mechanism for progressive taxation of excess profits is introduced to redistribute part of the value to consumers.
“The VNU is part of a liberalization logic. The idea is to cap EDF’s excess profits and return them to consumers,” emphasizes Xavier Blot.
However, under current market conditions, redistribution appears limited, raising questions about the mechanism’s actual protective impact.
Mechanism complexity and political uncertainties
The interview highlights the VNU’s vulnerabilities: the absence of a floor price, reliance on numerous decrees, and strong exposure to political trade-offs.
“Everything we say today could be wrong in a month,” Xavier Blot notes, illustrating regulatory instability and the lack of visibility for sector players.
According to him, the VNU reflects a broader deficit in energy governance in France, in a context marked by the absence of clear long-term planning.
The MSc in Management of Energy Transition at emlyon business school
Directed by Xavier Blot and Thibaud Voïta, the MSc in Management of Energy Transition at emlyon business school trains professionals capable of analyzing and steering profound transformations in energy systems. The program combines energy economics, regulation, finance, geopolitics, and corporate strategy to prepare students to operate in an environment shaped by uncertainty, market volatility, and low-carbon transition imperatives.
The issues addressed in this interview—market mechanisms, trade-offs between pricing, investment, and regulation, and the role of the State and historical players—are central to the program led by Xavier Blot and Thibaud Voïta. The debate surrounding the VNU perfectly illustrates the complexity of the choices required to reconcile security of supply, economic sustainability, and the energy transition. The analysis of the VNU thus serves as an emblematic real-world case of the challenges explored throughout the MSc in Management of Energy Transitions.