S‘we needed proof that the State is the sole shareholder of EDF and that Bruno Le Maire is indeed the Minister of Energy – in addition to his portfolios of economy, finance and industrial sovereignty -, the boss of Bercy administered it, Monday March 25, by inviting himself to the weekly meeting of the group’s executive committee. And to deliver a message, in the name of the competitiveness of French companies: the electrician must “renegotiate” contracts signed with small and medium-sized businesses, which consider the prices exorbitant compared to the wholesale market price.
But Mr. Le Maire’s pressure does not stop there. The former Norman elected official will also exercise it on the proper execution of the program of six EPR 2, reactors different from that of Flamanville (Manche), which must be connected to the network during the summer with a delay of twelve years. Their commissioning will last from 2035 to 2042, at best. A colossal project, now estimated at 67 billion euros, which foreshadows the construction of eight other “phases”.
It is no coincidence that, in December 2022, the minister went to the Penly power plant (Seine-Maritime), which will house the first two EPR 2. He defended the“master asset” nuclear power for the reindustrialization of the country and recalled that EDF is the ” master piece “. It was fifteen days after the arrival of Luc Rémont at the head of EDF, in November 2022, and the clear sign of a takeover by the State, now 100% shareholder of the company after fifteen years of ownership. stock market errors.
58 reactors between 1977 and 2000
Does Mr. Rémont need such interventionism? It revived nuclear production, which fell to its historic low in 2022 due to corrosion problems on the pipes of many reactors, and generated a net profit of 10 billion euros in 2023; but the construction site of the two British EPRs at Hinkley Point shows a worrying drift in schedule and costs, even before the first concrete for the EPRs at Penly is poured.
The reorganization of EDF’s nuclear division into four directions, announced Friday March 29, sounds like a general remobilization to meet the challenges listed by its boss: “Continue the operation of the existing fleet beyond 40 years, succeed in the construction of new EPRs, develop our future SMR [petits réacteurs modulaires] and accelerate on prospecting projects. » Because it is indeed a flawless industrial organization that allowed EDF to put 58 reactors into service between 1977 and 2000.
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