The hood tightens for EDF. While a year ago, the executive agreed not to regulate the prices of nuclear electricity produced by the energy company, the requested compensation has not been included today. Especially on the signing of long-term contracts to supply electro-intensive manufacturers.
In twelve months, the energy company signed only six letters of intent (non-binding) with energy-intensive producers, for about 10.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of consumption. An insufficient level according to the outgoing government, which on Thursday launched an ultimatum to EDF: obtain at least 20 TWh at the end of January, the date on which a new stage will be held. Otherwise, according to our information, the way of regulating the prices of EDF by the State will have to be reviewed.
Fewer projects, more existing factories
As a reminder, this frame was the subject of an agreementannounced with great fanfare by the former Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, in November 2023. In general, the executive abandoned the idea of ​​regulating the prices of nuclear electricity at a level close to the costs of production, ie around 60 euros/MWh. . Instead, and to the great relief of EDF, the State was only to intervene if prices exceeded 78 to 80 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), taking only half of the profits beyond this limit (and 90% beyond 110 euros per MWh).
In exchange for this more flexible regulation, the electrician had to negotiate medium and long-term supply contracts with professional clients. And especially among the most energetic industries, looking for visibility, via ” nuclear production allocation contract (CAPN). The principle: reserving part of the production of the atomic park for very energy-intensive factories,durations from ten to eighteen years… with volumes and costs that will then depend on EDF’s performance.
But on these CAPN therefore, the account is not there. And it is not just a matter of numbers: most of the volumes concerned by the six letters of intent signed to date relate to projects that have not yet come to fruition, such as the future steel factory in GravitHy “green” hydrogen. The government, for its part, wants the CAPNs to be more closely linked to the already existing factories, threatened by fierce international competition.
“It is not with six letters of intent, a significant part of which concerns projects with technological innovations, that we respond to the order, and in particular to the commitment of the agreement”, estimates Nicolas de Warren, to the head of Uniden, the association that brings together French electro-intensive industrialists.
Pressure shot
The only thing is: since these are private contracts protected by competition law, the State cannot intervene to speed up the signing of CAPN. In other words, it is impossible for him to impose new conditions on EDF. However, the problem is slipping precisely because these conditions do not satisfy the majority of manufacturers.
” to be associated with the productive (nuclear) and its industrial and commercial hazards represents a major uncertainty factor “, Nicolas de Warren already clarified a few weeks ago.
Exchanges meet to share risk. The CAPN is not a simple supply contract, which gives access over a given period to a fixed volume of electricity at a predefined price. It is rather a part of the real production of the total atomic park, the price of which varies according to the actual cost of the power plants. Put more simply, if EDF encountered significant difficulties in the operation of its reactors, as in 2022 and 2023, the industrial would directly pay the price. In addition, the company that signs a CAPN must pay a significant advance in advance, which can represent up to 1/3 of its turnover.
If the subject does not progress by the end of January, the only lever available to the future government will be to review the EDF price regulation model presented last year. As it stands, however, the resignation of the Minister of Ecological and Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, still supports the agreement. And he hopes, with this new burst of pressure, to get a quick reaction from EDF. When asked, the main person concerned did not comment.
