On 4 November 2019 the EDF group announced the acquisition of a British start-up called Pivot Power, specialising in battery storage and electric vehicle charging infrastructures. This move will enable EDF, already the largest low-carbon electricity producer in the UK, to become a leader in battery storage there.
Pivot Power has an extensive portfolio of battery storage projects across more than 40 locations throughout the UK, with a total capacity of close to 2GW. There are plans to install batteries connected directly to the high-voltage transmission system. The first two storage projects at Kemsley (Kent) and Cowley (Oxford) have land, planning and grid connection agreements in place and are expected to be commissioned in 2020.
As part of EDF’s Electricity Storage Plan, this acquisition contributes to the Group’s target of being the leader in Europe with 10GW of additional storage by 2035. The acquisition is also in line with the EDF Electric Mobility Plan to become the leading electric mobility company by 2022 in the UK, France, Italy and Belgium. Beyond that date, the Group’s goal is to provide power for 600,000 electric vehicles and install 75,000 charging points.
On 29 June 2018, EDF Renewables sold a 49% minority stake in twenty-four of its UK wind farms (around 550MW), for the price of £701 million.
The new partnership with Dalmore Capital Limited and Pensions Infrastructure Platform, with investments from large UK local authority pension schemes, will enable EDF Renewables to continue to expand the renewable energy business.
EDF Renewables retained a 51% share in this portfolio of wind farms. It also continues to run the sites and to provide operations and maintenance and asset management services.
EDF Energy also continues to purchase all of the electricity and ROCs (Renewables Obligation Certificates) generated by the wind farms, on market-standard terms.
The sale of this investment, which was considered as a transaction between shareholders with no change of control, was recognised in equity and had no impact on the Group’s income statement (see the statement of Change in consolidated equity).
Following a competitive auction process launched in early 2018, the EDF group announced on 29 June 2018 that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with two groups of investors for the disposal of its 65.01% interest in the share capital of Dunkerque LNG, owner and operator of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Dunkirk.
Based on the prices paid by the two consortia, the average enterprise value for 100% of Dunkerque LNG amounted to €2.4 billion.
This transaction allowed Fluxys, already a 25% shareholder of Dunkerque LNG, to take control of and consolidate Dunkerque LNG with the support of Axa Investment Managers – Real Assets and Crédit Agricole Assurances.
EDF, as a customer of Dunkerque LNG, is still committed in the long term to the terminal, which will continue serving the Group’s gas strategy.
Once the required regulatory approvals had been given, the EDF group completed the sale of its stake in the Dunkerque LNG terminal on 30 October 2018.
Following this sale, valuation of the long-term agreement between EDF and Dunkerque LNG for reservation of LNG regasification capacities led to recognition of a €737 million increase in provisions for onerous contracts. Due to the gain of €755 million generated, this operation had a net impact of €18 million on other income and expenses. It also contributed a €1.5 billion reduction in the EDF Group’s net financial indebtedness, based on a sale price of approximately €1 billion net of cash transferred.
NB: This summary of the key points of 2018, which were included in the financial statements at 31 December 2018 published on 15 February 2019, should be read in conjunction with the summary of developments in 2019 presented in note 3.1.1.
Major milestones were reached during 2018:
At 31 December 2018, almost all the equipment for the nuclear section and the conventional island, had been delivered and assembled on site. The situation at that date as regards the quality of equipment manufactured by Framatome for the primary system is described in the following paragraphs.
The issue of the higher-than expected carbon content in the vessel head and bottom was examined by the French Nuclear Safety Authority ASN (Agence de sécurité nucléaire) during the first half of 2017 on the basis of documentation submitted by Framatome under the supervision of EDF. Based on the opinion of a group of ASN-appointed experts, the ASN issued an opinion on 11 October 2017 concluding that the mechanical properties of the vessel head and bottom head were adequate for their uses, including in the event of an accident.
On 9 October 2018, the ASN authorised:
EDF worked on development of in-service vessel head checks, in order to go back to the ASN later in 2019 for permission to retain the current vessel head if such checks were industrially feasible. If permission were not given, EDF could remain liable for some or all of the costs incurred to manufacture a replacement vessel head. These costs are not included in the target construction cost, since if they arise they would do so after the plant’s commissioning. EDF SA initiated arbitration proceedings against AREVA SA on this matter.
On 30 November 2017, EDF declared a significant event to the ASN regarding the detection of a quality deviation in the welding of the secondary system that conducts the steam from the steam generators to the turbine of the Flamanville 3 EPR.
