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RUSSIA

Russian-German Baltic gas pipeline ready by late 2011

The Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea should be operational by late 2011, the head of German energy giant EON Ruhrgas said here Tuesday.

“The partners in the project are convinced that it will be functioning by autumn 2011,” EON Ruhrgaz chief executive Bernhard Reutersberg said in an Interfax news agency report.

Reutersberg acknowledged, according to Interfax, that there had been unexpected problems with the pipeline regarding clearance from transit countries, several of which have opposed the project.

The Baltic states and Poland have objected to Nord Stream, concerned at being bypassed by a major Russian gas supply route to Europe, which dependsheavily on Russia for energy.

The Nord Stream consortium is led by Russia’s Gazprom, with 51 percent, while EON Ruhrgas and Wintershall Holding have 20 percent each and Holland’s Gasunie owns nine percent.

Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel championed the project, which besides angering eastern European states has worried environmental groups.

“I will promote this project, which is in the interest of many countries,” Merkel said after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Berlin.

“I will strive to overcome all objections,” she added.

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.

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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