Elisabeth Borne gave specific objectives to the boss of EDF for the year 2023, such as that of reviving the French nuclear fleet.
© REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
In a three-page letter, sent on December 9 to the address of the new CEO of EDF, Luc Rémont, the Prime Minister set out a battle plan to redress the French energy giant. Consulted by The echoes Friday, the missive gives three priorities to the boss of the public company, starting with the restoration of the nuclear apparatus in working order. While 14 nuclear reactors out of the 56 in the tricolor fleet remain shut down, Elisabeth Borne urges in her lines to return ” at a level consistent with the capacities of its industrial tool and the best international comparables “. On the way to 100% renationalisation, the national electrician is summoned to ” control the deadlines and budgets of current nuclear projects” and to straighten out its “financial trajectory ».
Matignon’s letter calls on the indebted company to respond ” consumer expectations in the context of rising energy prices » and to the challenges of ecological planning, « in line with the future climate energy programming law “. Furthermore, Luc Rémont is asked to “ target » EDF’s export activities « in line with the financial and industrial capacities of the company ».
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A roadmap expected within six months
Elisabeth Borne wrote down her requests a few days before EDF announced, in mid-December, a new delay of six months and an additional cost of 500 million euros for the new generation EPR reactor in Flamanville. (Channel), whose commissioning is postponed to mid-2024.
Luc Rémont has six months to propose, during the first half of 2023, a new strategic, operational and financial roadmap for the future of the energy heavyweight.