EDF looks towards future projects after flagging tough second half
By Forrest Crellin and Benjamin Mallet
PARIS (Reuters) -French energy giant EDF aims to meet its schedule for future nuclear reactor projects, its CEO said on Friday, with final tests ahead of the start-up of its newest French reactor imminent after years of delays.
The group earlier reported a jump in first-half profit on higher electricity production, but said regional market prices had fallen and warned core earnings in the second half would decline year-on-year.
The world's largest nuclear power plant operator, which has grappled with a range of problems in recent years, is hoping to shore up its finances with a revamped fleet to partially help fund at least six more reactors in France.
It is in talks over potential investment decisions on its new European pressurized reactors (EPR2) by late 2025 or early 2026 to stay on track for starting two reactors per year in the 2030s, CEO Luc Remont said during its first-half earnings presentation.
Its most recent French project, Flamanville 3, is expected to be added to the grid a few weeks after the completion of the last tests needed before the start-up the reactor, the group said, after more than a decade of delays and ballooning costs.
EDF said in its results statement on Friday that the final tests were "imminent". The company is also looking to increase hiring in the nuclear sector to handle its future reactor plans.
Questions still surround EDF's ability to construct the Europe-wide supply chain that will be necessary to match its ambitions after years of delays have hampered their most recent projects, and high costs lost them a bid in the Czech Republic.
In Britain, 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 is "a bit early" to give a date for a final investment decision on Sizewell.
They are working to find additional investors for the HPC project, Remont said. There is potential for further delays depending how well the work schedule is kept, it said in its earnings note.
EDF earlier said electricity production had climbed in the first half as more of its current fleet returned to service and renewable supply increased, outweighing declines in wholesale power prices.
Its electricity production for the first half totalled 259 terawatt hours (TWh), a 12% rise from a year earlier. Output from nuclear also rose 12% to 177.4 TWh.
Nuclear power output in France, excluding output from the new Flamanville 3 reactor, is expected to be at the high end of a range of 314 to 345 TWh for the full year, EDF said.
Net income surged to 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion), while earnings before interest, tax, debt and amortisation climbed 16.1% 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)