Following a strategic repositioning, in 2019 Edison announced the sale of upstream business in oil & gas exploration and production (see section 1.4.5.2.2 “Edison Strategy”).
EDF Trading (EDFT) is the EDF group’s exclusive interface with the wholesale energy markets providing market, optimisation and risk management services to the EDF group as well as third parties. The company operates across Europe, North America and Asia in the wholesale markets for electricity, natural gas, and LPG, environmental products and coal and freight (through its partnership with JERA Global Markets). EDF Trading is one of the largest wholesale energy market traders in Europe and in North America. Through its North American subsidiary, it is also one of the main service providers to electricity producers and energy suppliers for access to wholesale markets, and one of the five leading electricity suppliers for major-account customers in sales and industry.
EDF Trading’s registered office is located in London. The company has around 820 employees and is governed by the UK’s financial market regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.
Among other things, EDF is responsible for accessing wholesale markets on behalf of DOAAT (see section 1.4.3 “Optimisation activities for EDF in France”).
EDF Trading is a leading participant in the European electricity wholesale market trading over 2,000TWh annually. The company provides a full range of risk management services to EDF group’s asset operators and to third parties. It has an extensive geographic footprint and scale of activity which makes it able to adapt quickly to changes in the market and to develop new business where appropriate. In2019, EDF group signed a number of long-term supply deals which were supported by EDF Trading through financial hedging services. The subsidiary also provided services to help the Group manage its exposure to ARENH.
EDF Trading is also a leading participant in the European gas wholesale market trading over 605Gm3 annually. It optimises EDF group entities’ gas assets including production, transmission rights, long-term supply contracts and regasification and storage capacities. This enables it to support the EDF group and third party customers with complete gas wholesale market solutions. In 2019, EDF Trading did more business with the Group’s French customers. The subsidiary also handled a significant number of LNG cargoes shipped to Dunkirk.
EDF Trading North America is a leader on wholesale energy markets in North America, where it benefits from broad geographical coverage, offering solutions to customers across the entire North American energy value chain. It provides energy management solutions, natural gas supply, and real-time services for electricity producers in the USA. As one of the leading suppliers of production services for electric power plants in the USA, the subsidiary manages over 31GW for 89 electric power plants. For retail energy aggregators, it provides supply services on the wholesale market, as well as services to interface with Independent System Operators(ISOs).
Ranked in the top five electricity suppliers to commercial and industrial customers in North America, the retail supply and services team offer natural gas, electricity, an environmental products to a portfolio of commercial and industrial customers, managing a portfolio of 2.1GW of customer demand response. Some of these customers are also active in Europe, allowing EDF to address their needs on a worldwide basis. In 2019, a new product was made available to customers in collaboration with Dalkia, allowing them to invest in energy efficiency projects and incorporate the related costs in their electricity bill.
EDF Trading is committed to the environmental products marketplace and, as subsidiary of a leading renewable generator, offers a broad range of multi-commodity hedging solutions that help the EDF group and third party customers around the world. EDFT is active in the compliance and voluntary carbon markets, guarantees of origin certificates in Europe, Renewable Energy Certificates in the US, and International Renewable Energy Certificates in the rest of the world. In addition, it is a recognised leader and provider of risk management products in the European Weather market. In 2019, the business framework was adjusted to the marketing of guarantees of origin, thereby capturing the value of EDF’s carbon-free asset portfolio.
In April 2017, EDF Trading concluded the sale of its coal and freight business to JERA. EDFT now holds a 33% financial stake of JERA Global Markets, one of the largest coal traders globally.
In April 2019, EDF Trading expanded its joint venture with JERA to include LNG optimisation and trading. JERA Global Markets is now the LNG optimiser for JERA and the EDF group, managing LNG optimisation in the short and medium term. The Company continued to develop its global LPG activities. EDF Trading thus offers a complete range of LNG and LPG services including supply, delivery and nominations into the appropriate network.
With a fuel oil supply volume of approximately 1 million tonnes and 0.5 million tonnes of coal delivered in 2019, EDF Trading Logistics acts as EDF’s vehicle for fuel oil purchases. It organises fuel oil and coal supply logistics operations for all of the EDF group’s thermal plants in mainland France, Corsica and France’s overseas departments, in close collaboration with JERA Global Market, and controls the coal terminals in the ports of Le Havre and Saint Nazaire.
In addition, EDF Trading Logistics provides the Group its expertise in regard to managing risks relating to the transport of fuel oil (hazardous materials), an activity that has received ISO 14001 certification which was renewed on 31 October 2019, and in the management of environmental crises arising from this activity.
As well as interests in local distribution companies or LDCs (SMEG, Enercal, Électricité De Mayotte, EDSB), the EDF group has industrial subsidiaries and holdings. These Companies contribute, within their specific field of activities (generation, fuel, engineering) to the Group’s missions, and more specifically, to those of generation and engineering: namely to ensure the short- and medium-term performance of ETFs portfolio of generation assets in France.
These companies include SAE, which specialises in fuel transport and trading operations on behalf of the EDF group; SHEMA, which specialises in hydropower generation by small power plants; and Cyclife France, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EDF specialising in the treatment and packaging of very low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste.
For recent changes in the dedicated asset portfolio, see section 5.1.6.1.6 “Management of financial risk on EDF’s dedicated asset portfolio”.
