Universal Registration Document 2020

EDF’s customers are increasingly aware of their environmental footprint; in response, EDF is providing affordable, innovative solutions granting them access to smarter, lower energy use:

• by contributing to decarbonisation of practices, through electrification of uses, in the sectors that produce the most CO₂ :

• building on the development of infrastructure, data, and the creation of low-carbon solutions;
• by helping its domestic customers, businesses, and local authorities to become more actively engaged with their energy consumption (self-consumption, digital consumption management solutions, heat pumps).

The aim of these solutions is for EDF to avoid the emission of over 15 million tonnes of CO₂ by 2030⁽⁴⁾.

In addition, EDF continues to innovate by developing new business models to assist its customers with energy transition and put into practice the Group’s commitments regarding carbon neutrality. Innovation both downstream (energy efficiency and uses) and upstream (low-carbon energy production) will be an essential factor in covering the required ground, given the speed at which renewables technology is progressing from storage to electric vehicles via hydrogen power and digital developments. Building on its own R&D efforts and its innovation ecosystem developed with its partners, EDF group selects innovations with potential to accelerate enable energy transition, developing industrial resources in France wherever possible.

Lastly, energy transition will only be achieved if it is fair and equitable. EDF group assists its customers, in particular the most vulnerable, to help them use energy more wisely; in doing so, it is engaged in the fight against energy insecurity (see section 3.3.4 “Energy insecurity and social innovation”).

1.3.2.2 Holding a leading position in low-carbon electricity generation

Because nearly 98% of electricity in France is carbon-free thanks to nuclear and renewable energies, EDF is playing a leading role of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 by accelerating the development of renewable energies while guaranteeing the safety, performance and competitiveness of existing nuclear facilities and
Nuclear New Build investments.

There is no single solution to deliver low-carbon electricity, but rather an array of solutions: nuclear power, hydropower, solar power, onshore and offshore wind power, renewable heat, grids, storage (in particular in electric vehicles), tools for managing flexibility in uses and production, etc.

• EDF group’s aim of achieving very low-carbon production is embodied first and foremost in the accelerated development of renewable energy in France and abroad. EDF group is developing renewable electrical power using all types of technology (hydropower, solar power, onshore and off shore wind power, etc.) as well as renewable heat and waste heat recovery through its subsidiary Dalkia. Renewable energies already account for a quarter of the Group’s overall capacity⁽⁵⁾. EDF group is now the leader in renewable energy in Europe and, in particular, the leading supplier of hydropower in the European Union, with 22.5GW net installed capacity⁽⁶⁾. With some 11.0GW net installed capacity, the Group is also one of the world leaders in renewables other than hydropower, mainly wind power and solar power. EDF’s goal is to increase rapidly its net installed capacity in solar and wind power. The target for 2030 is to achieve installed capacity for renewable energy (including hydropower) of 60GW net, the equivalent of more than twice the 2015 installed capacity. EDF group is seeking a balance between the different technologies (onshore and offshore wind power, solar power, and hydropower), and a balance in geographical distribution. Lastly, EDF regularly invests in hydropower facilities in order to combine economic, energy and environmental performance, and will propose solutions to strengthen hydropower generation.
• EDF is establishing a position as a European leader in the aggregation of renewable capacity and flexibility, and has set itself the target of tripling the Group’s storage resources by 2035 as part of its storage plan.
• The aim of very low-carbon production is also based on the performance of the nuclear industry, by guaranteeing industrial expertise, safety, competitiveness, care for the environment, optimised operation of nuclear fleets in France and the UK, completion of works in progress (Flamanville 3, HPC), and implementation of an innovative fuel cycle strategy. EDF’s nuclear generation fleet is the only one of its kind in the world. The Grand Carénage of the existing fleet in France has already begun and is a major industrial challenge. The related investment is designed to enable the plants in question to remain in operation beyond 40 years, guaranteeing nuclear safety, performance, and the protection of the environment. Nuclear power operation does not emit CO₂⁽⁷⁾; it provides baseline production whilst offering strong leverage in terms of management and flexibility to adjust to electricity consumption. As such it can play a fully legitimate role through to 2050 in the low-carbon electricity mix, alongside renewable energy. With this in mind, EDF is building the Hinkley Point C reactor in the United Kingdom and the Flamanville reactor in France, as well as operating two reactors in Taishan, China. EDF is also developing other projects which may be built in countries seeking to have new reactors. In addition, EDF is finalising the design of a new-generation EPR. By 2030, the Group is seeking to be engaged in new EPR programmes in France, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in the world, as well as in the development of a first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) demonstrator in France.