French utility EDF has launched a sale of its Polish coal-fired heating and power plants worth up to 2 billion zlotys ($497.56 million) and has hired law firm Dentons and investment bank Rothschild to help, the Puls Biznesu daily reported on Wednesday citing unnamed sources.The planned sale is part of EDF’s low-carbon strategy as the company wants to focus on nuclear energy and needs billions of euro to invest in a nuclear project in Britain. In Poland EDF’s plants hold a 15-percent share of the heating market. Its 1.7 gigawatt (GW) coal-fired power station in Rybnik in southern Poland generates around 7 percent of the electricity consumed in Poland.
Reuters 13th Jan 2016 read more »
EDF and French nuclear group Areva have agreed that Areva’s reactor business is worth slightly more than 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) as part of EDF’s plan to take a controlling stake in the unit, two sources said on Wednesday. In late July, EDF agreed to buy 51 to 75 percent of the Areva NP reactor unit based on a value of 2.7 billion euros for the entire division, though it has since been the subject of tough negotiations. Talks between the two groups have stalled over differences about the value and how to take into account risks linked to a much delayed and over budget reactor Areva is building in Finland that has plunged it deep into losses.Les Echos reported that once EDF makes a firm offer, the government may indicate how large a capital increase Areva would need, which may be in the range of 3.0-4.5 billion euros, according to its sources. EDF has indicated that it would not accept being exposed to risks linked to the Finnish reactor as Areva and its Finnish customer Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) seek billions of euros in damages from one another. Les Echos said one possibility under consideration would be to transfer the Finnish contract from the reactor division to Areva the parent company, leaving the state to bear risks tied to the project.
Reuters 13th Jan 2016 read more »
EDF’s shares plunged to an all-time low on Tuesday after estimates on the cost of nuclear waste storage released by the French national radioactive waste agency were released. The company, headed by Jean-Bernard Levy dispute the findings made by Andra that storage costs could be higher than EDF’s estimates but the news saw shares drop to as much as 7.3 percent before closing down 4.4 percent at 11.96 euros. Andra said costs for the Cigeo deep geological storage project could be as high as 30 billion euros or as low as 20 billion depending on assumptions about different cost factors in coming years. However in a letter to the energy ministry, posted on the ministry’s website, EDF, fellow state-controlled company Areva and the CEA (Atomic Energy Authority) said they estimated the cost at around 20 billion euros. “Andra’s study only took into account a small number of possible optimisations,” they said in the letter, adding that a certain number of costs and ratios used by the state agency were not in line with their experience. “We are waiting for a decision of the energy minister on the cost of storage,” an EDF spokesman said. The energy ministry’s decision on the 10 billion-euro gap in estimates could have a huge impact on the already stretched balance sheet of EDF, whose 58 nuclear power plants produce the bulk of France’s nuclear waste.
Power Engineering International 13th Jan 2016 read more »