Summary : Repeated customer power supply interruptions, or a blackout, or a widespread power grid incident, in a territory served by the Group could have consequences for the Group’s activities, financial position and reputation, particularly if they were partly attributable to the Group
Criticality : ● Moderate
The Group may be faced with repeated power outages or even a blackout, a widespread network incident of considerable scale, or be involved in it, even if the triggering incident occurred on a network not operated by EDF or was attributable to another operator.
The causes of power outages can be diverse: local or regional imbalance between electricity generation and consumption, accidental power supply or transmission failure, cascade failures, interconnection problems, delays in investment and the necessary network conversions to meet the needs of energy and ecological transition, difficulty in coordinating players, particularly in a market with insufficient or evolving regulation. An external crisis, such as the Covid health crisis, can, through the disruptions it generates, constitute an aggravating risk factor.
The initial impact of such power failures could be repair costs incurred to re-establish power or restore the network. Power failures may also generate capital expenditures if it were decided, for example, to install additional generation or network capacity. This could also cause a decline in the Group’s turnover. Finally, they could have a negative impact on the Group’s financial position or reputation with its customers and all its stakeholders, particularly if the power outage were to be partly attributable to it
Controlling this risk is at the heart of RTE’s mission, as it is responsible 24 hours a day for managing the French electricity system and balancing electricity supply and demand in France. The resources implemented by RTE fall within the framework defined by the public authorities and comply with the policies common to European TSOs and established within the framework of ENTSOE (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity).
EDF’s contribution to risk management, over and above its regulatory obligations and in accordance with the public service contract and its responsibility as a balance manager, lies in its commitment to:
Summary : The Group operates facilities for which accidents could, in the event of a failure in industrial safety, have serious consequences on the human or natural environment, particularly in terms of biodiversity and environmental capital (air, soils and water).
Criticality : ● Moderate
The Group operates or has operated facilities which, as part of their day-to-day operations, can be, may be or may have been the cause of incidents or industrial accidents having environmental (air, soil and waters pollution risks) and health impacts
Furthermore, all the Group’s facilities and projects are concerned with biodiversity issues and, more generally ecosystems, in particular with regard to the issues of temperature and water abstraction in connection with climate change, especially in France where EDF is a major landowner and natural resource manager.
The stakes are all the higher as the energy transition introduces new or enhanced requirements in terms of biodiversity protection, pollution control and control of impacts on the environment as a whole.
The Group’s facilities may be located in industrial areas where other activities subject to similar risks exist, which means that the Group’s own facilities may be impacted by accidents occurring at neighbouring facilities owned by other operators and not under the Group’s control.
The Group owns 40 facilities classified as Seveso under the European Directive for the prevention and management of major industrial risks. These are essentially storage or warehousing facilities for oil, gas or chemicals
Measures taken for industrial safety and the control of these risks may not be fully effective, which could have consequences for people, property and immediate surroundings. The Group may be held liable.
In case of a major accident, insurance policies for civil liability and damage taken out by the Group could prove to be inadequate, and the Group cannot guarantee that it will be able in the long run to maintain a level of cover at least equal to current cover levels.
Risks specific to nuclear facilities are further developed in section 2.2.5 “Specific risks related to nuclear activities”. Risks specific to hydraulic facilities are set out in 4E above.
An industrial safety failure may have a negative impact on the Group’s operational activity, its financial or legal position regarding its duty of vigilance, environmental assets, or its reputation, and may affect the Group’s ability to achieve its Corporate Responsibility objective with respect to biodiversity (see section 3.5.2.1.).
The risk management studies carried out on each industrial site integrate potential health or environmental impacts and avoidance measures: compliance with regulations, monitoring, prevention and protection of soil, water, air and potential health effects. In addition, they include avoidance measures for accident situations. In this respect, feedback from the fire that occurred on 26 September 2019 at the “Seveso” Lubrizol plant in Rouen will be included in the analyses. The Group’s French Seveso sites all implement the regulatory requirements applicable to this type of facility. In addition, they all responded to the requests of the prefects following the fire at the Lubrizol plant. The additional post-Lubrizol decrees on the storage of flammable liquids and toxic materials are applicable and therefore integrated into the Group’s ICPE (facilities that are classified for the protection of the environment) industrial facilities.
