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Energy giant RWE plans massive job cuts

Energy giant RWE plans to cut thousands of jobs over the next few years, according to media reports.

Published: 3 December 2011 14:54 CET
Energy giant RWE plans massive job cuts
Photo: DPA

A report in Saturday’s edition of the Rheinische Post said RWE wanted to cut 8,000 of its global workforce of 72,000. A source at the company confirmed the report to the Reuters news agency.

“There will be job cuts,” the spokesman told Reuters, without giving a specific number. He said the company was working with the trade unions to implement the job cuts.

In August RWE had announced that it planned to cut costs by €1.5 billion next year in response to Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power by 2022. The company plans to divest assets worth €11 billion by the end of 2013.

RWE will close its Biblis nuclear power station and also introduce less labour-intensive new coal-fired plants. It will also restructure its operations in the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe.

The company’s supervisory board is meeting on December 12 to discuss the mid-term outlook for 2012 to 2014, including staff numbers.

RWE has already said there would not be any forced lay-offs until at least the end of 2012.

Another German energy giant E.ON has already said it plans to cut 11,000 of its global staff of 80,000. According to unions, 6,500 of those job cuts will likely be in Germany.

The Local/smd

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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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