15. Inventories

Inventories are assets held for sale in the course of ordinary business activities; they are in the course of being manufactured for the purpose of selling or have the form of materials or products consumed in production processes or in the provision of services.

Inventories include the following:

• materials,
• products,
• intermediate products and work in progress,
• energy origin rights – purchased, generated or received property rights related to certificates of origin for energy generated from renewable sources, property rights related to certificates of origin for energy generated in cogeneration, and property rights related to certificates of energy efficiency,
• goods (in particular CO₂ emission allowances intended for resale).

Inventories (except for CO₂ emission allowances acquired in order to realise gains) are measured at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

Rights acquired to realise gains from market price fluctuations are recognised at fair value less costs to sell.

Inventory outflows are measured in accordance with the following rules:

• materials and goods (except for CO₂ emission allowances and property rights) – in line with the FIFO method;
• CO₂ emission allowances – by way of detailed identification;
• property rights – by way of detailed identification.

As at the reporting date, the purchase prices or manufacturing costs of inventories used in their valuation may not be higher than their possible net price. Write-downs on inventories are recognised as operating costs. If a given component of inventories regains previously lost value in part or in whole, its value is updated by decreasing the value of the previous write-down.