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ENERGY

Vattenfall to power electric car tests

Swedish energy group Vatenfall is joining with German carmaker BMW to launch a pilot project in Berlin next year to test the feasibility of electric cars, the companies announced on Tuesday.

Published: 25 November 2008 15:25 CET

BMW will provide 50 electric Mini models while Vatenfall Europe will establish a network of charging points throughout the German capital, a joint statement said.

“We want to know how many typical clients use an electric vehicle daily,” BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer said in the statement as the project was presented to the German environment ministry.

“We want to have a realistic view of the technology’s potential,” he said.

In July, Munich-based BMW said it would produce 500 electric versions of its Mini model, mainly for export to the United States where they were to be rented to the public.

German rival Daimler said in early September that it was teaming up with power company RWE to develop a similar project in Berlin that would be based on electric Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars.

That network is to comprise 500 charging stations installed by RWE, the second biggest German electricity company.

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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