EDF returned to profit last year, helped by high energy prices and reactor restarts
French state-owned energy giant EDF returned to profit last year and also reduced its debt by ten billion euros. High energy prices and the return to service of some nuclear reactors helped. The company posted a net profit of ten billion euros (254,3 billion Kč), compared with a loss of 17,9 billion euros a year earlier, caused by reactor outages and energy price regulation. EDF reported this today in a statement on its financial results.
Last year, gross operating profit (EBITDA) reached 39,9 billion euros, following a loss of almost five billion euros in 2022. The company’s net debt stood at 54,4 billion euros at the end of last year.
The results mark a dramatic turnaround for the indebted company, which was nationalized last June, Reuters reported. However, the company is contending with rising costs, delays to nuclear energy projects in Britain and falling electricity prices in its domestic market.
In connection with its British operations, EDF recorded an after-tax impairment charge of 7,9 billion euros. France wants the British government to contribute more money to two new nuclear power plants, Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C.
Electricity prices in France rose sharply in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. EDF also had to take several reactors offline after signs of corrosion were found in some of them.
The last reactor at risk of corrosion will be repaired during maintenance carried out once every ten years, which begins this month, the company said. Nuclear power generation in France increased by around 41,4 terawatt-hours (TWh) last year to 320,4 TWh.
France has the largest share of nuclear power in Europe. French company Framatome supplies nuclear fuel to the Temelín power plant, and EDF, along with South Korean company KHNP, is one of the bidders to build a new unit at Dukovany.
In January, the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and the French National Research Agency agreed to cooperate on financing joint nuclear energy projects.
Translation disclaimer
This article is a machine translation of the Czech original and has not yet been fully reviewed. In case of any doubt, please refer to the Czech version.
