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)