France's EDF to withdraw from some overseas projects, cut jobs, sources say
PARIS, - France's EDF is cutting its headcount overseas and scrapping bids on some nuclear projects abroad as it focuses on a major construction programme at home under new CEO Bernard Fontana, said two sources familiar with the matter.
France, once a global leader in nuclear energy and Europe's largest nuclear power producer, is pulling back at a time of global calls for nuclear expansion, opening the door to new players as high costs and design issues hurt its ability to compete internationally.
Fontana was appointed in April to take over the state-run utility after the government became increasingly frustrated with EDF's slow progress in revamping the French nuclear fleet.
The new chief executive told a parliamentary hearing on his nomination that he would focus on developing the company's domestic nuclear projects rather than its international business, which employs hundreds of people and has previously built reactors in China, Finland and Britain.
He has outlined changes to the overseas business in recent weeks, said the sources, including pulling back from some bids to build reactors outside Europe.
The company will focus on tenders for nuclear projects in the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland, where it has a higher chance of winning the bids, said an industry source familiar with the plans.
It will also de-prioritise projects in Poland, India, Canada and elsewhere outside Europe, the person said.
Reducing its international footprint will allow it to cut costs and redirect people to higher-priority projects, said another industry source familiar with the situation.
EDF's recent international projects have faced long delays and cost overruns. Last year it lost out to South Korea's KHNP in a bid for two new reactors in the Czech Republic.
Fontana will also reduce headcount on the international sales team, said the sources, with one saying there are plans to cut about 60 jobs, including 10 managers.
No decision has been made, EDF said.
The group continues its international activities while remaining attentive to the profitability of its commitments, the company said.
Europe has always been its first priority and it is focusing on strengthening its European supply chains, a spokesperson for the company said.
"The new French nuclear programme is the group's priority," said an official in Prime Minister Francois Bayrou's office.
President Emmanuel Macron announced plans in early 2022 for six new French reactors to replace ageing plants and secure future energy supplies, with costs estimated at 67 billion euros , according to a media report last year.
The company is heavily indebted, however, after expensive repairs to its nuclear fleet in recent years.
EDF is also looking to sell some of its renewable energy assets in North America and Brazil.
The company's subsidiaries Framatome and Arabelle, which produce reactor parts, will continue to bid to supply international projects, such as the 1000 in Poland, one of the sources added.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Zelenskiy Plans to Ask Europe to Help Pay Ukraine's Soldiers
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to ask European allies to help finance improved salaries for troops resisting Russia's invasion, in a bid to ease growing shortages of recruits. 'Previously, Europeans refused to provide funding for the salaries of our military personnel, only for weapons,' Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv on Thursday. 'Our service members themselves can be the weapon that protects everyone.' With a mobilization campaign in Ukraine increasingly unpopular among a population fatigued by the war that's in its fourth year, Zelenskiy's government wants to motivate more volunteers by offering substantial payments for those who sign military contracts. Russia has long offered large signing bonuses and high salaries to lure tens of thousands to its army each month, seeking to avoid any repeat of a spike in public anxiety when President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial draft a few months into the 2022 invasion. Increasing payments to soldiers would add to strains on Ukraine's state budget, which had a deficit exceeding 20% of gross domestic product last year amid massive military spending. The war-torn nation relies on tens of billions of dollars in aid from its foreign allies, who have so far rejected the idea of directly covering military expenses. While the International Monetary Fund, which is providing a loan program worth about $16 billion, is urging Kyiv to shrink the budget gap, the government has no plans to raise taxes, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko told Bloomberg News in an interview. Global donors have earmarked only half of the estimated $75 billion needed for the budget over the next two years, she said. Ukraine needs $25 billion annually to produce drones, jamming equipment and missiles to defend against Russia, which will bring the budget deficit to $65 billion next year, according to Zelenskiy. It has begun discussions on the issue with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as US officials, he said. 'This is a very difficult topic,' Zelenskiy added. Ukrainian companies have started manufacturing interceptor drones, and about $6 billion is required urgently to ramp up production, the president said. 'A clear task has been set for the manufacturers: Ukraine must be capable of deploying at least 1,000 interceptors per day within a defined timeframe,' Zelenskiy said in a post on social media platform X on Friday after visiting a drone production facility. 'Government officials are ensuring contracting is in place, and we are also working constantly with our partners to prevent any funding shortages,' he said. While he told reporters the US has agreed to buy drones designed and produced in Ukraine, Zelenskiy said he's seeking a contract worth between $10 billion and $30 billion. Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov and Presidential Adviser Oleksandr Kamyshin have been tasked with handling the negotiations, he said. The president said that Ukrainian forces had made 'solid progress' in stalling Russian advances on the battefield. The situation in the northeastern Sumy region was now significantly better for Kyiv, though Russia remains focused on gains in the area as well as toward Pokrovsk, while the Dnipropetrovsk region 'is very much desired by them,' he said. Zelenskiy said the third round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul on Wednesday yielded some progress toward preparing a meeting with Putin. Russian officials have said there's little point to a summit before the sides have negotiated an agreement to end the war. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Investors eye possible US-Europe trade deal as deadline looms
NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - Investors are hopeful a potential trade deal between the U.S. and European Union could bring more certainty to markets ahead of next Friday's tariffs deadline. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was set to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday in Scotland after EU officials and diplomats said they expected to reach a framework deal this weekend. Trump on Friday said there was a 50-50 chance or perhaps less that the U.S. would reach a trade agreement with the EU. Trade tensions between the U.S. and Europe may have provided some investors with a rationale to be cautious, said Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. "It's one of our largest trading relationships... So if that last piece falls into place, then you've probably got at the margin more people that have to get back in the markets," Samana said. "It's been a source of uncertainty that will go away." A deal would likely include a 15% baseline tariff on all EU goods entering the U.S. and probably a 50% tariff on European steel and aluminum, the officials and diplomats said. Optimism over easing trade tensions broadly has helped push U.S. stocks to record highs. Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement of sweeping global tariffs sent stocks plunging in the immediate aftermath, due to spiking fears about a recession that have since faded. Still, investors have been bracing for increased volatility heading into August 1, which the U.S. has set as a deadline for raising levies on a broad swath of trading partners. The EU is facing U.S. tariffs on more than 70% of its exports - 50% on steel and aluminum, 25% on cars and car parts and a 10% levy on most other EU goods, which Trump has said he would hike to 30% on August 1. Hopes for a deal with Europe rose after Trump struck a trade agreement with Japan earlier in the week. "The deal with Japan and the likely one soon with the EU are especially important given both are major U.S. trading partners, together accounting for about a quarter of all goods imports," analysts at Capital Economics said in a note on Friday. In the agreement with Japan, the country's auto sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of its U.S. exports, will see existing tariffs cut to 15% from levies totaling 27.5% previously. An agreement that also lowers EU auto tariffs to 15% "would be no small deal" for the region as well, as about 10% of its shipments to the U.S. are in the same category, Capital Economics said. Investors over the weekend were also watching for developments on trade between the U.S. and China. Officials from the two countries plan to meet in Stockholm next week to discuss extending an August 12 deadline for negotiating a deal. (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Alden Bentley and Edward Tobin)
India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
Iran to continue nuclear talks with Europe amid looming UN sanctions
Iran said it would continue nuclear talks with European powers after "serious, frank, and detailed" conversations on Friday, the first such face-to-face meeting since Israel and the US bombed Iran last the meeting in Istanbul, Iran also pushed back on suggestions of extending the United Nations resolution that ratifies a 2015 deal, nearing expiry, that was designed to curb its nuclear from the European Union and so-called E3 group of France, Britain and Germany met Iranian counterparts for about four hours at Iran's consulate for talks that the UN nuclear watchdog said could provide an opening to resume inspections in AND EUROPEANS PRESENT IDEAS Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said afterward that both sides had presented specific ideas on sanctions relief and the nuclear issue."While seriously criticising their stances regarding the recent war of aggression against our people, we explained our principled positions, including on the so-called snapback mechanism," he said."It was agreed that consultations on this matter will continue."The European countries, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to the 2015 deal - from which the US withdrew in 2018 - which lifted sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme.A deadline of October 18 is fast approaching when the resolution governing that deal that point, all UN sanctions on Iran will be lifted unless the "snapback" mechanism is triggered at least 30 days before. This would automatically reimpose those sanctions, which target sectors from hydrocarbons to banking and give time for this to happen, the E3 have set a deadline of the end of August to revive diplomacy. Diplomats say they want Iran to take concrete steps to convince them to extend the deadline by up to six WANT NUCLEAR COMMITMENTS FROM IRANIran would need to make commitments on key issues including eventual talks with Washington, full cooperation with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and accounting for 400 kg (880 pounds) of near-weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, whose whereabouts are unknown since last month's the talks, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson had said Tehran considered talk of extending UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to be "meaningless and baseless".IAEA head Rafael Grossi said he was optimistic that nuclear inspection visits might be able to restart this year and that it was important to discuss the technical details now."We need to agree on where to go, how to do it. We need to listen to Iran in terms of what they consider should be the precautions to be taken," he told reporters in United States held five rounds of talks with Iran prior to its airstrikes in June, which US President Donald Trump said had "obliterated" a programme that Washington and its ally Israel say is aimed at acquiring a nuclear NBC News has cited current and former U.S. officials as saying a subsequent US assessment found that while the strikes destroyed most of one of three targeted nuclear sites, the other two were not as badly denies seeking a nuclear weapon and says its nuclear programme is meant solely for civilian purposes.- Ends
