With the Ecocombust project in France, the Group’s main objective is to optimise the performance by all of its fossil-fired plants by making innovative, ecological fuel that can be used in heating or electricity-generating installations that currently run on coal. If satisfactory results are achieved by the technical trials and impact studies required under the preliminary work programme validated by EDF and the Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, EDF will aim to begin industrial production of this new fuel in 2022. The fuel would then be used for co-firing, with a minority coal component, in the Cordemais plant’s boilers from 2022.
EDF is also playing a part in the energy transition through investments in new activities. In 2017, the EDF group created its start-up incubator EDF Pulse Croissance, to explore the ecological and digital transition and provide its clients with innovative, competitive offerings and services. EDF Pulse Croissance is part of the Group’s CAP 2030 strategy to develop a portfolio of assets focusing on carbon-free energy, services for customers and decentralised energy solutions.
In 2019 EDF Pulse Croissance invested in start-ups and formed subsidiaries that developed out of entrepreneurial projects. One of these is Hynamics, a subsidiary dedicated to the production and marketing of low-carbon hydrogen from water electrolysis, to meet the needs of industry and heavy-duty transport. Hynamics is also contributing to installing a network of hydrogen charging points across France for heavy-duty electric vehicles such as trains, buses, refuse collection trucks, commercial vehicles and river transport vessels.
As a consequence of the multi-year energy programme (PPE) fixing a final deadline of 2026 for the discontinuation of coal-fired power generation in France, and also due to the Ecocombust project, the ends of the depreciation periods for the Le Havre and Cordemais plants were changed in the first half of 2019 and set at 2021 for Le Havre and 2026 for Cordemais (for Cordemais, the date could still change depending on final decisions to be made about the Ecocombust project).
The Group is also taking action under the PPE for the French island territories, which plans a progressive conversion to liquid biomass for plants that currently run on fuel oil.
Another reflection of the EDF group’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is the management policy applied to its portfolio of dedicated assets held to finance long-term nuclear expenses in France (€33.8 billion at 31 December 2020). The Group has drawn up a responsible investor’s charter covering three areas (compliance with the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment; respect of the major international agreements on human rights; and an annual report on responsible investments). This charter is applicable both to assets managed directly and assets managed by specialist companies under delegated management arrangements.
In addition, on 17 December 2020, the Group finalised the sale of its Exploration and Production operations to Energean (see notes 1.4.2 and 3.1). The progressive disposal of the hydrocarbons Exploration and Production (E&P) operations is consistent with the priorities of the CAP 2030 strategy.
Given the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, and the fact that electricity is a major lever in action to decarbonise the French economy, R&D has a crucial role to play in the electricity, climate, digital and societal transition.
In 2020, the EDF group’s total R&D expenditure amounted to €685 million, and EDF’s R&D budget for environmental protection was €79 million.
R&D expenditure is particularly channelled into research into energy efficiency, uses of electricity as a substitute for fossil fuel-based energies, renewable energies and their insertion into the grid, energy storage, carbon-free hydrogen and its applications for decarbonising the economy, sustainable cities, the local impacts of climate change and other environmental issues such as biodiversity, water quality, and the mitigation of all forms of pollution.
Research concerning electricity storage, enhancement of energy performance diagnosis methods, improvement of techniques for urban heating and cooling networks, platforms for sharing studies relevant to the ecological transition, and increasing safety at nuclear power plants is supported by public subsidies, notably from the European Union.
Accounting principles and methods for R&D are presented in note 10.2.
Other expenses for protection of the environment and climate are identifiable expenses incurred to prevent, reduce or repair damage that has been or may be caused by the Group as a result of its activities. These expenses are treated as follows:
All of the Group’s functions, employees, activities and projects are mobilised to fulfil EDF’s objective of being an environmentally responsible company. Some of the actions concerned are presented below.
The Group takes action associated with France’s national biodiversity plan, promoting a positive approach to biodiversity. For example, through its subsidiary EDF Hydro and its hydroelectricity activities, between 2013 and 2020 the Group undertook more than 50 operations to facilitate fish migration at ecologically sensitive sites in mainland France (“list 2” sites for the purposes of the national law on water and aquatic environments), installing fish passes and fish ladders and removing river weirs. These operations benefited from subsidies from the national water agencies.
Consistent with its ambitions for the environment and the climate, the Group works to raise awareness among its employees and educate them about environmental and sustainable development issues. In 2020 its “Environment and sustainable development” training offering comprising courses on environmental management, standards and regulations, and environmental analysis, provided 1,545 employees with 12,710 hours of training.
In addition, the rollout at Group level of the “Climate Collage” collaborative workshop, led in person or online by 173 volunteer employees after internal training, gave 3,061 employees greater awareness of the issues of climate disruption.
Furthermore, sustainable and digital development indicators have been introduced that account for 20% of the 2020 employee profit share criteria. These indicators reflect efforts made to reduce paper printouts, and achievement of the “carbon-neutrality passport” training certificate.
As the first French Group to sign the EV100 initiative, EDF made a commitment to have a fully-electric light vehicle fleet by 2030. In 2020 the worldwide fleet numbered slightly more than 45,000 light vehicles (especially in Europe) and more than 12.2% were already electric (over 5,500 electric vehicles, an increase of more than 1,700 from 2019). Joining the EV100 initiative is also an encouragement for Group employees to control their energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprint, as it gives them access to a special agreement with car suppliers and offers for recharging services sold by EDF subsidiaries.
