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ENERGY

Former defence minister to lead state electricity utility

Former defence minister Mikael Odenberg has been named director general of state electricity utility Svenska Kraftnät.

Published: 7 February 2008 14:31 CET

Odenberg was introduced in his new capacity by Energy Minister Maud Olofsson, who also presented new Swedish Energy Agency director Tomas Kåberger, and new National Electrical Safety Board director Magnus Olofsson.

Odenberg made headlines last September after he resigned from his post as defence minister in protest over proposed cuts to the defence budget.

Svenska Kraftnät is a state utility that administers and runs the national electrical grid and natural gas supplies.

Magnus Olofsson comes from ABB and has a doctorate in electrical energy systems from the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

Tomas Kåberger is an adjunct professor at Lund University’s international environmental institute. He has also worked as the head of a bioenergy company and has participated in a number of government inquiries.

BUSINESS

France’s EDF hails €10billion profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

French energy giant EDF has unveiled net profit of €10billion and cut its massive debt by increasing nuclear production after problems forced some plants offline.

Published: 16 February 2024 10:45 CET
France's EDF hails €10billion profit, despite huge UK nuclear charge

EDF hailed an “exceptional” year after its loss of €17.9billion in 2022.

Sales slipped 2.6 percent to €139.7billion , but the group managed to slice debt by €10billion euros to €54.4billion.

EDF said however that it had booked a €12.9 billion depreciation linked to difficulties at its Hinkley Point nuclear plant in Britain.

The charge includes €11.2 billion for Hinkley Point assets and €1.7billion at its British subsidiary, EDF Energy, the group explained.

EDF announced last month a fresh delay and additional costs for the giant project hit by repeated cost overruns.

“The year was marked by many events, in particular by the recovery of production and the company’s mobilisation around production recovery,” CEO Luc Remont told reporters.

EDF put its strong showing down to a strong operational performance, notably a significant increase in nuclear generation in France at a time of historically high prices.

That followed a drop in nuclear output in France in 2022. The group had to deal with stress corrosion problems at some reactors while also facing government orders to limit price rises.

The French reactors last year produced around 320.4 TWh, in the upper range of expectations.

Nuclear production had slid back in 2022 to 279 TWh, its lowest level in three decades, because of the corrosion problems and maintenance changes after
the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hinkley Point C is one of a small number of European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) worldwide, an EDF-led design that has been plagued by cost overruns
running into billions of euros and years of construction delays.

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