Universal Registration Document 2020

1.2.3 Significant events of the year

In adopting a raison d’être that was included in the company bylaws in May 2020,EDF has confirmed its aspiration to become a leader in energy transition towards carbon neutrality by 2050 and deepen its own climate-related commitments: these now include decreasing its direct CO2 emissions by 50% by 2030 vs 2017⁽¹⁾.
In line with this aim, in 2020 the Group pursued its growth in renewable energy⁽²⁾ and decarbonisation of uses and services⁽³⁾ :

• In solar power, the year saw several successful calls for tender. The Group was awarded the project for the construction of the Al Dhafra plant (2GW),⁽⁴⁾
  Abu Dhabi. In Rajasthan, India, 3 calls for tender went to EDEN Renewables India⁽⁵⁾ (1,350MWp). In France, 190MWp of projects were awarded in calls for tender issued by the French Energy Regulation Commission (Commission de Régulation de l’Energie, CRE). In the United Arab Emirates, DEWA III, the third phase of construction (800MWac) of one of the most powerful solar power plants in the world, was completed. In the United States, the Group acquired a portfolio of up to 4.5GW of solar development assets⁽⁶⁾ ;
• In wind power, the construction of the Fécamp offshore wind farm (500MW) was launched in France, to be commissioned at the end of 2023. Internationally, the Group completed the joint venture agreements for Dongtai IV and V, two offshore wind farms in China with total capacity of 502MW⁽⁷⁾. The construction of the Dumat Al Jandal wind farm (400MW)⁽⁸⁾ in Saudi Arabia continued, and the first phase of the construction work on the Taza wind farm in Morocco (87MW) commenced. The Group also positioned itself in Ireland, acquiring 50% of the Codling offshore wind project, with expected total installed capacity of approximately 1GW⁽⁹⁾ ;
• In hydropower, the new Romanche-Gavet hydroelectric plant (97MW) in Isère,France, was commissioned. In Cameroon, just over one third of the civil engineering works on the Nachtigal dam (420MW) were completed;
• In green hydrogen, the Group is starting a project to construct a 30MW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen from offshore wind power in Germany, as part of a 10-partner consortium⁽¹⁰⁾;
• In microgrids, to broaden its range of offers, EDF group invested in startup Ecosun Innovations⁽¹¹⁾, a company developing innovative solutions aimed at supplying electricity to remote areas;
• In storage, the Group has operations in the United States, with the construction project for the Chuckwalla solar power plant in Nevada⁽¹²⁾ ; this is connected to a 4-hour 180MW battery storage system, providing electricity supply and demand balancing. The Group also signed a contract with CleanPowerSF for 4-hour 50MW battery storage in connection with the Maverick 6 solar project (100MW) in California;
• With regard to electric mobility, EDF group acquired Pod Point, one of the UK’s largest electric vehicle charging companies⁽¹³⁾. As of the end of 2020, over 100,000 charge points had been rolled out by the Group, and over 5,000 use smart charging technology;
• In the field of electricity supply and energy services, the Group has expanded the range of solutions on its local services platform IZI by EDF in the fields of energy renovation, electric mobility, and the marketing of heat pumps. The Group also launched new offers: Contrat Flexible and Vert Électrique Bretagne;
• Dalkia has increased its expertise in electrical engineering with the acquisition of KSB Service EITB Sitelec, a company specialising in maintenance and renovation of electrical equipment⁽¹⁴⁾ ;
• As of the end of 2020, 29.7 million Linky smart meters had been installed by Enedis, in line with its rollout programme⁽¹⁵⁾.

More generally, the year was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 health crisis.
The economic disruption led to a fall in demand for electricity and had major repercussions on many of the Group’s activities, in particular nuclear power generation, worksites, and services. The estimated impact on the Group’s EBITDA amounts to -€1,479 million at the end of December 2020.

Throughout this period, the Group has been able to adjust its business methods to ensure continuity of its essential missions: producing electricity, providing energy services, and local relations with customers⁽¹⁶⁾.

With respect to nuclear power, the main effect of the health crisis has been a slow down in the construction worksites in France and the UK. In France, the progress of the industrial programme, in particular operations scheduled during maintenance shut downs, was severely affected, reducing electricity production capacity. In view of this, EDF has had to adjust the scheduling of reactor shutdowns for maintenance in order to contribute to security of supply for electricity during winter 2020-2021, in liaison with RTE.

The costs of the Grand Carénage programme between the present and 2025 have been readjusted, in particular to take account of the impacts of the crisis⁽¹⁷⁾. In the UK, the Hinkley Point C project has also been revised in order to factor in the impacts of the health crisis to date⁽¹⁸⁾.

Despite the pandemic and thanks to the measures taken to adapt, the year saw a number of significant events, including:

• achieving nuclear production of 335.4 TWh in France, higher than the production estimates made during 2020;
• milestone “J0”, being achieved: this marks completion of the nuclear island common raft for the second Hinkley Point C reactor, on schedule⁽¹⁹⁾ ;
• Framatome entering into several contracts, in particular an agreement with Rolls-Royce with a view to the acquisition of its Civil Nuclear Instrumentation and Control (I&C) business, which operates mainly in France, and to a lesser extent in China⁽²⁰⁾. Framatome also launched the "Framatome Défense" brand to promote its business serving French national defence, affirming its commitment and strenghtening its contribution to this sector;
• finalisation of the first rollout phase of the excell plan. This aims to align the French nuclear industry with the highest standards of diligence, quality, and excellence required for the successful completion of nuclear projects. The excell plan calls for 25 new commitments by mid-2021⁽²¹⁾.

In this URD, the consequences of the health crisis for the Group are dealt with from a number of points of view:

• the impact on the Group’s activities is presented in the different sections of chapter 1.4 and in note 1.4 “Comparability (including the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic)” in the Group’s audited financial statements at
  31 December 2020,included in chapter 6;
• the impact of the pandemic on the risk factors to which the Group is exposed is set out in section 2.2;
• the introduction to chapter 3 describes support measures and initiatives taken by EDF for the benefit of its clients, suppliers, and employees.