EDF has always taken care to ensure the sustainable and shared development of the areas near hydropower generation facilities, which are often rural and sometimes isolated. EDF has a clear commitment to strong local roots in this respect, combining a stance as a responsible concession manager based on dialogue with building alongside all stakeholders, supporting local economic development through its Une rivière, un territoire (“One River, One Territory”) agencies. This commitment is reflected in EDF’s close collaboration with actors from the economic, political and association sectors in the areas concerned and by maintaining a close dialogue with the people living near the facilities.
It is structured around two main pillars:
EDF is also continuing its dedicated “One River, One Territory” programme, which was launched in 2012. This local programme has created or maintained over 540 jobs in the valleys by means of loans to over 50 local companies. This should involve the creation or preservation of more than 750 jobs by 2025.
In 2021, EDF set up a smaller loan scheme to support the development of tourism around hydroelectric facilities. It has continued its “recovery loan” scheme to provide cash flow support for its service providers, as well as essential players in the economic and social life of the valleys affected by the impacts of the health crisis.
EDF’s hydropower generation business is subject to the substantive provisions of water regulations. Such regulations cover in particular control over variations in water levels and flow rates, the safety of areas in the vicinity and downstream of hydropower facilities and, in general, maintaining balanced management of water resources.
The dams operated by EDF in France provide storage capacity for nearly 7 billion cubic metres of water. As well as generating electricity, hydropower infrastructure is also used to help with water management, and thus represent a major contribution by EDF to local life and economic development.
Over and above being a hydropower supplier, EDF is therefore also engaged as a contributor to the sustainable management of water resources. For example, it maintains the flows of many rivers in summer for the benefit of aquatic environments and other water uses: drinking water, irrigation, sports and leisure activities in rivers (canoeing, kayaking, etc.), etc. The Durance-Verdon and Saint-Casein (Alpes-Maritimes) reservoirs also play a fundamental role in crop irrigation in Provence and the drinking water supply for the French Riviera.
EDF also maintains water levels commensurate with tourism at major reservoirs, allowing the development of recreational activities and the tourist economy as part of concerted policy initiatives. For example, in August 2021, the average occupancy rate of accommodations in the Serre-Ponçon lake area was 13 points higher than the average rate for the Hautes Alpes (2).
In 2020-2021, EDF Hydro contributed to a CGEDD-CGAAER (3) expert assessment on the mobilisation of hydroelectric reservoirs to provide assistance in times of low water levels in Adour Garonne (4). In addition to the necessity to promote water conservation, this expert assessment concluded that there are available tools in addition to the current support provided to rivers in summer in Adour Garonne. These tools can be activated provided legal, financial and technical means are put in place to offset the energy flexibility that would be thus reduced.
Water management is carried out in consultation with the various stakeholders. In income cases, this includes agreements with local councillors, fishermen, farmers, and the managers of tourist destinations and industrial sites. EDF is thus very much a stakeholder in local water management governance. For instance, EDF has set upon innovative “Basin coordinator delegates” scheme, so that all EDF’s business lines have representation in water-related authorities such as basin committees and water agency boards of directors, on behalf of the UFE (Union française de l’électricité - French union of electricity companies).
This representation and coordinated action within EDF as regards water management ensures its business is sustainable and nurtures shared management of water resources. In order to contribute to the collective reflection on water management, EDF Hydro, through the UFE, participates in the work of the Varenne agricole de l’eau project initiated in May 2021 by the Ministries of Agriculture and the Energy Transition. It has contributed its viewpoint on hydropower, which deems it essential to share the adaptation and mitigation challenges created by climate change in a balanced manner.
Through its holdings, the Group holds shares in France (notably through its subsidiary Dalkia) and abroad in several dozen heating networks and small-scale, mainly wood-fired generating plants, and has been committed for several years now to the development of anaerobic digestion, with the biogas produced used both in cogeneration and for direct injection into the natural gas distribution network.
To develop this type of energy, EDF is using its subsidiary Électricité de Strasbourg, which operates two industrial facilities in Alsace: one for heat at Rittershoffen, Ecogi, for a local industry, and the other for power generation, at Soultz-sous-Forêts.
Apart from hydropower, the EDF group’s involvement in renewable energy is largely conducted by its a wholly-owned subsidiary EDF Renewables. The companies in the EDF renewables group had a workforce of 4,382 employees at 31 December 2021.
EDF Renewables is fully engaged in the renewable market dynamic, with a strong presence in onshore and offshore wind power, as well as accelerating its solar power business.
EDF Renewables is also expanding into the storage sector, in line with EDF’s Storage Plan, which calls for 10 GW of fresh capacity by 2035, including 4 GW from large-scale batteries.
Finally, EDF is also present in the decentralised renewable energy sector (rooftop solar power) for residential and corporate customers. It has operations in France (via its subsidiary EDF ENR) and abroad, in particular in the United States, China, the United Kingdom and, since 2021, in Vietnam and Israel.
EDF Renewables has seen marked growth in installed capacity (up 10%/year on average over the past five years). As of 31 December 2021, EDF Renewables had gross installed capacity of 15,577MW, net installed capacity of 10,113MW and 7,997 MW gross currently under construction. The project portfolio totalled a gross capacity of 76 GW at the end of 2021. The EDF group aims to achieve net installed capacity in renewables wind and solar power of 21 GW by 2024.
(1) In accordance with commonly accepted academic definitions, on the basis of purchases of €437.6 million made from the French economic sector in 2021, and an indirect employment impact per million euros on 64 economic sectors; based on INSEE economic data.
(3) CGEDD: Conseil général de l’environnement et du développement durable (General Council for Environment and Sustainable Development). CGAAER: Conseil général de l’alimentation, de l’agriculture et des espaces ruraux (General Council for Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas).
(4) http://www.cgedd.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/conditions-de-mobilisation-des-retenues-a3129.html .
