By Forrest Crellin and Benjamin Mallet
PARIS (Reuters) – French energy giant EDF is committed to sticking to its schedule for future nuclear reactor projects, its CEO said on Friday, as final tests before the commissioning of its newest French reactor are imminent after years of delays.
The group had previously reported a jump in profits in the first half of the year due to higher electricity production, but at the same time said that regional market prices had fallen and warned that core earnings in the second half of the year would decline compared to the previous year.
The world’s largest nuclear power plant operator, which has struggled with numerous problems in recent years, hopes to restore its finances with the help of a modernized fleet and thus partially finance at least six more reactors in France.
The company is in discussions about possible investment decisions for its new European Pressurized Reactors (EPR2) by the end of 2025 or early 2026 in order to stay on track to commission two reactors annually in the 2030s, said CEO Luc Remont during the presentation of the first half of the year results.
Its latest French project, Flamanville 3, is expected to come online a few weeks after completing the final tests required before the reactor can go into operation, the group said, following more than a decade of delays and skyrocketing costs.
EDF said in its earnings release on Friday that the final tests were “imminent.” The company also plans to hire more staff in the nuclear sector to be able to implement its future reactor plans.
Questions remain about EDF’s ability to build the pan-European supply chain needed to realise its ambitions. Years of delays have hampered the group’s recent projects and high costs led to the loss of a contract in the Czech Republic.
In the UK, EDF is continuing talks with the newly elected Labour government over its Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C nuclear projects, Remont told reporters, adding it was “a bit early” to give a date for a final investment decision on Sizewell.
Remont said they are working on finding additional investors for the HPC project. Depending on how well the work plan is adhered to, there could be further delays, the earnings release said.
EDF had previously said electricity production increased in the first half of the year as more power plants in the current fleet were restarted and supplies of renewable energy increased, more than offsetting the decline in wholesale electricity prices.
Electricity production in the first half of the year amounted to 259 terawatt hours (TWh), an increase of 12 percent compared to the previous year. Production from nuclear energy also rose by 12 percent to 177.4 TWh.
EDF said nuclear power production in France for the full year, excluding production from the new Flamanville 3 reactor, is expected to be at the upper end of a range of 314 to 345 TWh.
Net profit jumped to 7 billion euros (7.6 billion dollars), while earnings before interest, taxes, debt and amortization climbed 16.1 percent to 18.7 billion euros.
(Reporting by Forrest Crellin and Benjamin Mallet; Editing by Dominique Patton, Nina Chestney, David Evans, Edwina Gibbs and Jan Harvey)
