EDF secures 'green' financing to extend reactor lifetimes in France

French energy company EDF has signed green bank loans worth a total of EUR 5.8 billion (approx. CZK 143 billion). The financing will be used to extend the lifetimes of its existing fleet of nuclear power plants in France.

The loans, with maturities of between 3 and 5 years, were arranged with major international banks, including BNP Paribas, Bank of America, Crédit Agricole CIB, ING, Natixis CIB, Société Générale and Wells Fargo.

The company announced a similar loan worth EUR 1 billion back in November 2022. EDF said that investments to extend the operating lives of its reactors are in line with the European taxonomy, which the European Parliament approved in July 2022. Some uses of nuclear and gas energy sources were also included in the taxonomy.

EDF is the largest operator of nuclear reactors, which it built in the 1970s and 1980s. They must undergo maintenance and modernisation over time to ensure their long-term operation.

Grand Carénage programme

EDF announced its programme to extend the lifetimes of French nuclear power plants, called Grand Carénage, in 2011. As part of this investment programme, the company planned to invest approximately EUR 55 billion (approx. CZK 1.36 trillion) by 2025 to modernise its power plants, increase their installed capacity and extend their operation beyond their originally designed 40-year lifetimes. The programme also includes improving the safety of the plants in response to the accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Investments were optimised and revised to EUR 45 billion in 2018, and in 2020 EDF adjusted the programme's costs to EUR 49.4 billion (approx. CZK 1.22 trillion).

Regulation and first reactor with an extended licence

In February 2021, the French nuclear regulator ASN set the conditions for extending the operation of EDF's 900 MWe reactors beyond their originally designed 40-year lifetimes. The national regulator said it considered the measures planned by EDF, together with those prescribed by ASN, sufficient to ensure the safety of these units for a further 10 years of operation.

In August 2023, the Tricastin 1 reactor in southern France became the first French power reactor to receive a licence to operate beyond 40 years.

France's reactor fleet

EDF operates three types of pressurised water reactors with installed capacities of 900 MWe, 1300 MWe and 1450 MWe. A total of 32 operating 900 MWe reactors entered commercial operation between 1977 and 1988 and are among the oldest power reactors in the country. These reactors operate at the Blayais, Bugey, Chinon, Cruas-Meysse, Dampierre, Gravelines, Saint-Laurent and Tricastin power plants.

ASN said that upgrades will be carried out on all reactors during their fourth periodic safety reviews, as part of extended outages scheduled through 2031.