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ENERGY

20,000 visitors expected at WindEnergy trade fair

Thirty-five countries are taking part in the WindEnergy 2008 trade show that begins in Husum, Schleswig-Holstein on Tuesday.

Published: 9 September 2008 12:30 CEST
20,000 visitors expected at WindEnergy trade fair
Photo: DPA

Some 750 exhibitors – a fifth more than last year – will present their wares in the coastal city until Saturday. The increase in participation comes from a worldwide boom in wind energy, with a larger presence of exhibitors from the United States and China.

A main focus at the exhibition will be network connections between wind energy parks. Organizers expect participants to seal deals worth around €3 billion during the week. Some 20,000 visitors are expected to attend.

The 33,500 square-metre exhibition hall will also host major Germany energy providers EON and Vattenfall, in addition to equipment manufacturers and service providers.

State premier for Schleswig-Holstein Peter Harry Carstensen said that the country’s most northerly state gets about 40 percent of its energy from wind, and predicted the state would have more wind energy than the state can use by 2020 thanks to planned wind parks.

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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