EDF There to Stay in France, UK and Italy, Says CEO
October 23 2015 - 10:53AM
Dow Jones News
By Inti Landauro
PARIS--State-controlled power utility Electricite de France SA
(EDF.FR) will retain all its assets in its key markets of France,
the U.K. and Italy, Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy said
Friday.
The company has started a "strategic" evaluation of the assets
that might be sold in other countries in Europe as the outlook for
the business is weak compared with opportunities in other regions
in the world.
EDF's plan to reduce its exposure in parts of Europe shows how
large utilities are looking for business opportunities far from
their home market where sluggish demand for power and competition
with subsidized renewable energy has made traditional power
unprofitable.
"In France, the U.K. and Italy we are there to stay," Mr. Levy
said, adding that in both France and in the U.K., EDF is the
largest player. "In Italy, there is a possibility to see a
consolidation that could happen around us," he said.
In other countries such as Belgium, Poland, Hungary, the
Netherlands and Spain, there are assets that may not be as
strategic for the company.
Mr. Levy said EDF will seek to build new projects to add hydro,
solar, wind or nuclear power capacity in countries in Africa, Latin
America, China, India or Turkey.
He said his services are scanning the market opportunities in
many places in the world.
Meanwhile, the company will keep working on developing nuclear
capacity in the U.K. and in France, where new reactors will be
built to replace the ones that will have to be decommissioned in
the coming decades.
Earlier this week, EDF announced an agreement with its partner
China General Nuclear Power Corp. to finance the construction of a
GBP18 billion nuclear reactor project in the U.K.
Mr. Levy said the company is seeking to bring in more partners
during the project and eventually reduce its stake down to 51% from
the current 66.5%.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 23, 2015 10:38 ET (14:38 GMT)
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