The French State plans to grant EDF an interest-free loan to finance an important part of the project of six nuclear reactors of the EPR2 type under construction, said two sources familiar with the plan, which would pave the way for one of the largest industrial sites in the country. The planned financing would be accompanied by a system of long-term guaranteed prices in the form of a contract for difference, the sources added. The construction cost of six EPR2s is estimated at 51.7 billion euros in 2022, an amount that, according to the press in March, EDF had revised significantly upwards, to 67.4 billion. The group, whose capital is entirely the State, has since worked on an “optimization” of the estimate, which it intends to present to the Government at the end of the year.
One of the sources close to the Government specified that an agreement with EDF was underway, but that the part of the financing coming from a state loan and that of the group – in a context of growing public deficit – had not been decided. at this stage and that parameters such as risk sharing were still the subject of “intense debates”. Ministerial decisions will be made once EDF has presented its new estimate of the cost of EPR2 and then France will have to have its plan validated by the European Commission, the source added, referring to decisions taken in early 2025, while previously the government aiming for a financing plan by the end of this year.
Financing close to the solution adopted by the Czech Republic
The French plan would reinforce the tendency to resort to massive public aid to build new power plants in Europe in a context of delays and additional costs of current projects – such as Flamanville in France or Hinkley Point in England – that companies such as EDF, heavily involved in debt , can no longer face it alone. The planned plan would be close to that applied by the Czech Republic for a new reactor in Dukovany, which provides for an interest-free loan during construction and then at least 2% after the start of operation.
With a plan of this type, Paris wants to lower the final cost of EPR2 by reducing its financing cost, but also facilitate the green light from the European Commission, which validated the solution chosen by Prague for the Dukovany project, entrusted to the South. Korean KHNP to the detriment of EDF. Emmanuel Macron announced the construction of six EPR2 at the beginning of 2022, but without specifying the financing of this project, which would begin in 2027 and extend over almost 25 years. EDF, for its part, indicated that it was considering a final investment decision in early 2026.
Source: BFM TV
