Paris, 17 Feb. Last year, the French public electricity company EDF recorded a record loss of 17.940 million euros, which is explained by the very low production of its nuclear and hydroelectric power stations, and by the obligation imposed by the government to sell part of its production.
Another element illustrating the exceptionally catastrophic character that 2023 had for EDF, which is in the process of total nationalization, is the increase in its debt from 21.5 billion euros to a stratospheric figure of 64.5 billion.
One of the two main reasons for the catastrophic result announced this Friday by the company in a press release is the drop in its nuclear production in France, which remained at 279 terawatt hours, or 81.7 less than in 2021.
This is explained by the maintenance work delayed by covid that had to be carried out in a significant part of the fleet of 56 nuclear reactors – which normally generate 70% of the country’s electricity – and by the corrosion problems detected in the circuits of others. , which forced to stop up to more than half of the total during the summer.
The paradox of EDF’s income statement in 2022 is that billing soared to 143.476 million euros due to rising energy prices, compared to 84.461 million the previous year.
Currently, 43 of these reactors are active while on November 1 there were still only 30.
At the same time, EDF’s hydro production in France due to the drought fell to 32.4 terawatt hours, 9.4 terawatts less than in 2021.
The other major source of losses was the obligation to sell a significant part of its nuclear production to other (competitive) operators at prices well below those of the market, as a mechanism to help consumers to cushion the price hike, introduced by the French government.