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ENERGY

France’s EDF seals deal for UK nuclear plants

French energy giant EDF has sealed a multi-billion euro deal with the British government to construct two new nuclear reactors in the UK, according to a joint statement from EDF and the UK government.

Published: 21 October 2013 09:08 CEST
France's EDF seals deal for UK nuclear plants
French energy giant EDF said Monday it had won a deal worth £16 billion pounds (€18.9 billion) to build two nuclear reactors in Britain. Photo: François Nasimbeni/AFP

French energy giant EDF said Monday it had won a deal worth £16 billion pounds (€18.9 billion) to build two nuclear reactors in Britain.

"This deal means £16 billion of investment coming into the country and the creation of 25,000 jobs," said British Prime Minister David Cameron in a joint EDF-British government press release.

Two Chinese nuclear firms, CGNPC and CNNC, are expected to take a 30-40 percent stake between them, the statement added.

French energy firm Areva will provide the two EPRs or European Pressurized Reactors, taking a 10-percent stake in the project.

If the deal is confirmed next year, the power station, in south-west England, will be up and running by 2023, the statement said.

"Today we have a deal for the first nuclear power station in a generation to be built in Britain," added Cameron.

"This also marks the next generation of nuclear power in Britain, which has an important part to play in contributing to our future energy needs and our longer term security of supply."

The accord also agrees a guaranteed price for the energy produced by the two reactors, which had been a major sticking point in the negotiations between the firm and the government in London.

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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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