EDF considers selling the US renewable unit in full to concentrate on French nuclear
The CEO of the French state-owned utility EDF said that it is considering selling its U.S. Renewable Energy business. This comes as EDF focuses more on its nuclear operations at home and U.S. wind and solar support has been reduced.
Bernard Fontana, the company's CEO, said that it was looking at selling between 50% and 100% of its U.S. Renewable Unit. This is a revision to an earlier plan which had only planned on selling a minor stake.
One person familiar with the deal said that the equity in the unit could be valued at almost 4 billion euros ($4.6billion).
FOCUS ON FRENCH NUECLEAR FLEET
Fontana is a former CEO of Adopt AI, which was held in Paris. Fontana became CEO after the government expressed frustration with the delays in upgrading France’s nuclear fleet.
EDF is looking at ways to raise funds to build six new reactors. It has also said that it will be weighing the possibility of asset sales, as it has a net debt of 50 billion euros.
France's power prices are lower than those in Germany and Britain, which rely heavily upon gas-fired energy. The French power price slump has meant that EDF can't rely on wholesale markets to cover the lifetime costs of nuclear power plants. It is also looking at expanding its nuclear fleet as well as extending the lifecycle of existing reactors.
Two sources familiar with the discussions say that EDF appointed Nomura earlier this year to find buyers for a stake up to 49 percent of its U.S. Renewables business. Nomura declined comment.
In February, the company booked a 900 million euro impairment on its joint venture Atlantic Shores with Shell off of New Jersey's coast after U.S. president Donald Trump issued an embargo on new wind developments.
EDF's site states that the company has completed 23 gigawatts in projects, and 16 GW are under service contracts.
Recently, other European companies have sold their renewable portfolios to the U.S. Ares Management bought a 49% share of EDPR’s 1.6 GW solar, wind, and storage assets for $2.9 billion in October.
(source: Reuters)
