COMMENT. EDF: a transformation under high voltage. The company, which is 83% controlled by the State, dreams of being a European champion of carbon neutrality in 2030. But first, it must alleviate considerable debt. The planned arrangement would give pride of place to the market and the stock exchange. Too much according to the unions and many opponents who are mobilizing.
Ouest France 12th Feb 2021 read more »
Net profit drops sharply at EDF. The French electrician assures that he will revise upwards his objectives in renewable energies. EDF saw its net profit fall by 87% in 2020, in particular under the effect of the health crisis, we learned in a press release published on Thursday , February 18 , in which the French company specifies that its objectives are revised upwards. in renewable energies. “We are raising certain strategic objectives [of the plan] Cap 2030 : our objective of net installed renewable capacities increases from 50 gigawatts to 60 by 2030,” he said. “The year 2020 was marked by the health crisis we went through. We reorganized ourselves and we were able to carry out our missions: no one lacked electricity either during the confinement or this winter, ” he stressed.
Le Monde 18th Feb 2021 read more »
EDF has recorded what it has described as “solid” financial results as its renewable generation has soared by 6.3%. Reporting its results today (18 February), the French energy giant revealed its EBITDA stood at €16,174 million (£14,016 million), an organic change of -2.7%.
Current 18th Feb 2021 read more »
State-controlled French power group EDF can manage without fresh capital from the government until the end of 2022, it said on Thursday, but warned that delays in reform of the country’s nuclear sector would hobble its finances. The utility, which is nearly 84% owned by the government, is awaiting an ambitious nuclear power shake-up and restructuring outlined by President Emmanuel Macron, but the process has become bogged down in negotiations with Brussels. A key plank of the overhaul involves higher price guarantees on nuclear energy EDF sells to third-party providers, helping the debt-laden utility to cover production costs. But the plan, which would entail separating the nuclear business from other activities, has been opposed by unions and held up by EU questions over antitrust and state aid issues. The company hopes the reforms will be completed by 2023, EDF executives said as it reported a drop in 2020 profit after the COVID-19 pandemic sapped electricity demand.
Reuters 18th Feb 2021 read more »
EDF: former senior executives criticize the “Hercules” plan. The project to reorganize the public enterprise arouses strong opposition from the unions, but also from former executives. The CEO of EDF repeats it with constancy: without a complete reorganization and the outcome of complex negotiations in Brussels, the French group “risks being relegated to second division” . “Without” Hercules “, EDF is an actor which does not have the means to develop where there is growth” , once again explained Jean-Bernard Lévy to Les Echos , Thursday, February 18, on the occasion of presentation of the company’s results. It must be said that the group’s already difficult economic situation has been worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic: EDF saw its net profit fall by 87% in 2020, to 650 million euros, against 5.2 billion the previous year. The company is now weighed down by a debt of 42.4 billion.
Le Monde 18th Feb 2021 read more »
After a year 2020 upset by the Covid-19 pandemic, EDF published, Thursday, February 18, annual accounts which show a fairly good resistance to the economy. The fall in nuclear power generation could give rise to fear of the worst for the public group: it fell by 11.6% in France to 335.4 terawatt-hours (TWh) and by 10.4% in Great Britain (at 45.7 TWh). However, the public group manages to keep a profit of 650 million euros. These rather flattering results are mainly explained by the effect of the health crisis on the French electricity market. Fuel and energy purchases, in particular the renewable electricity purchase obligations imposed on EDF , fell sharply (- 9.2 %), thus almost fully offsetting the 9.6 % decline in sales (to 69,031 Billions of Euro’s). In addition, the group said that it benefited from a positive price effect on the electricity markets in Great Britain, a strong increase in hydropower production, as well as a clear improvement in the performance of the Italian subsidiary.
Reporterre 18th Feb 2021 read more »
Spent nuclear fuels. EDF wants to invest 1 billion euros for a new swimming pool on the Hague. A 6,500-ton swimming pool, on the Orano la Hague site, to store irradiated Mox fuels: the EDF project, valued at 1 billion euros, was detailed on February 18.
La Presse de la Manche 18th Feb 2021 read more »
EDF keeps 2021 French nuclear target at 330-360 TWh; 33 TWh coronavirus impact 2020. EDF has maintained its 2021 French nuclear output target in a range of 330 TWh-360 TWh after 2020 output fell to a record low of 335.4 TWh, the French utility said Feb. 18. Some 33 TWh of the 2020 nuclear decline was directly related to the coronavirus pandemic, forcing a rescheduling of reactor maintenance, it said. Closure of the Fessenheim nuclear plant and extended outages at Flamanville and Paluel also reduced output from EDF’s 375 TWh-390 TWh forecast for 2020.
S&P Global 18th Feb 2021 read more »