nuclear-news

EDF boss vows to speed up nuclear projects and narrow gap to Asian peers 

EDF’s new boss has vowed to speed up the delivery of new nuclear reactors in an increasingly competitive market, after costly overshoots in the past weighed on the French energy group.

The company wants to use the
development of the UK’s Sizewell C nuclear power station to show that huge reactors capable of powering millions of homes can be delivered at speed, in the hope that this will help it attract private funding and compete with more efficient rivals, including those from Asia.

Bernard Fontana, chief executive, said the state-owned group remained “open to international markets” and hoped to export more of its designs beyond the projects it is undertaking in the UK and France. EDF has been tasked with
delivering at least six new French reactors from 2038 onwards and is due to deliver two for the £38bn Sizewell C project in the middle to late 2030s.

Fontana’s push for efficiency comes as EDF, weighed down by a net debt of €50bn, needs to finance €30bn of investments annually over the next five years, including on maintaining current sites, according to estimates by France’s budget watchdog. EDF operates 57 French reactors.

 FT 9th Nov 2025, https://www.ft.com/content/cc39da49-6ebf-40e2-bfbe-296ee2596ce9

November 13, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, marketing