nuclear-news

French government ousts head of nuclear power group EDF.

 Luc Rémont’s exit comes after months of tension over plans for new reactors and clash over pricing strategies.

France has ousted the chief executive of the
state-owned nuclear power group EDF after months of tensions over strategy
and the risk of cost overruns in the construction of six new reactors.

Luc Rémont, who had been at EDF since November 2022, would be replaced by
Bernard Fontana, the current head of Framatome, a subsidiary of EDF that
builds reactors and components, the Élysée Palace said on Friday.

EDF runs the country’s fleet of 57 nuclear plants that generate roughly 70
per cent of France’s electricity, and commercialises nuclear projects
abroad. Rémont succeeded in the initial challenge of restoring the output
of the fleet of reactors after a period plagued by technical problems, and
was in the early stages of a plan to build new more powerful, yet costly
ones, known as the EPR2.

But his term was marred by continued spats with
the state, which nationalised EDF through buying out the minority
shareholders in 2023. The Elysée decided not to renew Rémont’s
three-year term that was set to expire in June.

A major point of contention
was over Rémont’s plans to revamp how EDF sells electricity to big
industrial companies with energy-intensive activities. In the past, the
company was legally required to sell fixed amounts of electricity to them
at a price approved both by the French government and the European
Commission.

With those rules expiring next year, Rémont had been set to
combine market pricing with the signing of long-term contracts with
customers in energy-intensive industries. But the offers attracted few
companies since the terms and prices were less attractive. In parallel to
long-term contracts, EDF said this month that it would launch a new
auction-like process for other industries, including foreign buyers, in a
move that angered energy-intensive groups in France.

 FT 21st March 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/c822f4e4-c15a-4038-aad4-a7151629277d

March 24, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France