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ENERGY

Swiss MPs examine nuclear shutdown

The Swiss parliament began Wednesday to examine a government proposal to phase out the country's nuclear plants by 2034.

Early Wednesday, the lower chamber of parliament examined over 100 proposals, including one that would reject all future requests to build nuclear plants. This one was accepted by 101 votes to 54.

The upper chamber will in turn meet on June 16 to discuss the issue.

A final decision will be made only “in a few months’ time” through amendments of the legislation, a spokesman from the energy ministry said.

Any new draft legislation can also be put to the population for a vote through a referendum.

The Swiss government on May 25 recommended that nuclear plants be phased out. The move follows a decision to suspend plans to replace its nuclear power stations in the wake of the Fukushima accident in Japan in April.

The government predicted that a programmed exit from nuclear energy would favour businesses involved in green technology, boost employment and help Switzerland deal with expected rising electricity prices in Europe.

Initial calculations estimate that the cost of reshaping the country’s energy resources, offset by measures to cut consumption, would amount to between 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent of gross domestic product.

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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