EDF revises (again) upwards its nuclear electricity production estimates

It's called a dramatic turnaround. This Wednesday EDF, for the second time since the start of the school year, revised upwards the estimate of the nuclear production range in France for 2024. The group is now counting on 358 to 364 Terawatt hours (TWh). Certainly, the revision compared to the September 2 announcements is subtle. EDF then counted on 340 to 360 TWh of production, compared to a range of 315 to 345 TWh at the start of the year.

Although subtle, this forecast is nonetheless a very good signal on the recovery of EDF's industrial facilities. After the stress corrosion crisis, which saw French electricity production fall to a historic low of 279 TWh, for the current fleet, in 2022, the group has undertaken a vast repair program, under pressure. under the leadership of Luc Rémont, CEO since November 2022 and looking for the slightest gain in efficiency.

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Second upward revision

In 2023, EDF and the State were banking on an increase to 360 TWh around 2030. This will therefore be done in 2024, barring a major incident in the last year. Enough to also allow Luc Rémont to officially say what he whispers unofficially every time he has the opportunity, a production objective of 400 TWh of nuclear electricity before the end of the decade. These forecasts do not include the Flamanville EPR, which entered production at the beginning of September and whose electricity should be injected into the network (coupling, in the jargon) “by the end of autumn”December 21. Time is running out, barring yet another delay on this site.