Nuclear: EDF and the State aim for a price of 70 euros per MWh

The Ministers of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, and of the Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, will receive the CEO of EDF, Luc Rémont, at the start of the week, in order to put an end to the rewriting of the regulatory framework nuclear electricity in France. This final meeting will bring to an end a negotiation lasting several weeks, punctuated by strong tensions. After their meeting at the beginning of last week, the boss of the public group and the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, discussed the future system again on Friday.

From a source close to the matter, the general objective is to achieve an average price of electricity supplied by the historic nuclear fleet close to 70 euros per MWh. This is more than the discounted price of 42 euros at which EDF must sell a quarter to a third of its production (100 TWh) within the framework of current regulation (Arenh, regulated access to historic nuclear power, which exists until the end of 2025). It is also more than the average price before the energy crisis. But it is less than current prices, strained by the conflict in Ukraine and the industrial problem which affected the availability of EDF's fleet. Luc Rémont mentioned this order of magnitude of 70 euros on Wednesday in the Senate.

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To achieve this objective, EDF intends to offer long-term offers to its customers – including its supplier competitors. Individuals will remain affected by regulated price formulas. The system will be governed by tools giving the State the possibility of capturing almost all of the revenue that would be collected by EDF beyond a threshold of 110 euros per MWh. The rate of this levy will fall in stages below this crisis level. The product will still be intended to be redistributed to consumers.

System settings will be regularly re-evaluated. The objective is to ensure the sustainability of EDF’s economic model. Despite its record debt, the company must be able to carry and therefore consolidate the majority of the new nuclear program on its balance sheet.