Our business

Nuclear generation

EDF Energy owns and operates eight nuclear power stations in the UK (15 reactors) with a total capacity of 8.9GW. Since 2009, Centrica plc. (“Centrica”) has held a 20% shareholding in Lake Acquisitions Limited, the company in which the nuclear generation assets sit (except Nuclear New Build)

Seven of the eight nuclear power stations are Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor (AGR) power stations (Dungeness B, Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2, Hinkley Point B, Hunterston B and Torness) and the eighth, Sizewell B, is a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) power station.

In 2017, EDF Energy maintained its position as the largest generator of electricity (by TWh produced) and of low carbon electricity.

The output of the nuclear fleet in 2017 was 63.9 TWh which is close to the record level achieved in 2016 (65.1TWh). This output of low carbon energy saved 22m tonnes of CO2 compared with gas generation, equivalent to removing a third of the UK’s cars from the road for a year.

Sizewell B reached a milestone of producing over 200 billion kilowatt hours of low carbon electricity since the start of operation in 1995. This world-class performance was the result of EDF Energy’s continuing investment in its existing nuclear power stations which in 2017 was £450m.

The nuclear power stations delivered their best ever safety performance in 2017 with only four lost time incidents.

EDF Energy aims to secure value from its existing nuclear, coal and gas assets through continued operational excellence and safe, reliable generation. One of the key strategic programmes involves extending the lifetime of existing nuclear plant, when safe and commercially viable, to allow the UK to continue to benefit from existing nuclear low carbon energy for as long as possible. This will also provide ongoing nuclear employment opportunities and support the maintenance of skills in the UK nuclear industry. EDF Energy now has confirmed life extension plans in place for all its advanced gas reactor (AGR) fleet – with an average life extension of 8.3 years since 2009. EDF Energy is also exploring opportunities to develop new activities in nuclear decommissioning, building on its expertise in operating the UK’s existing nuclear stations.

Renewable Generation

Through EDF Renewables, EDF Energy is developing its renewable assets. In addition, EDF Energy has signed power purchase agreements with renewable generators and supports independent developers. This ensures a balanced approach for compliance with its Renewables Obligations (RO) and the provision of renewable electricity to its customer base.

EDF Renewables currently operates 36 wind farm sites with a total generation capacity of 704.2MW, including Beck Burn (31MW) which was brought into operation in 2017. One other onshore wind farm is currently in construction, Dorenell (177MW), EDF Renewables’ largest onshore wind farm to date, expected to commence operation early 2019. EDF Renewables continues to expand its scope of technologies with a 49MW battery storage facility under construction. This facility will be constructed adjacent to the West Burton coal and CCGT stations.

Coal and Gas Generation

In 2017, Cottam and West Burton A coal-fired power plants generated 4.5TWh of electricity. This is higher than last year, and represented a good performance in a year of particularly low dark spreads, in addition to outages at seven of the eight units. The impact of the lower dark spreads has been largely economically mitigated by favourable trading, including power buybacks at a beneficial price, as well as running in peak periods. West Burton B CCGT generated 6.6TWh, driven by improved market spark spreads and continued Balancing Mechanism activity.

In February 2017, all of the coal units, including OCGTs, and all of the CCGT Units, secured a one year Capacity Market agreement starting in 2017, at the clearing price of £6.95/kW.

EDF Energy operates two mid cycle gas storage facilities in Cheshire. Hole House, purchased from EDF Trading in April 2014, is fully operational with a total working gas capacity of c.18 million therms. Hill Top Farm became commercially operational in mid-January 2015 with three cavities. The remaining two cavities are being developed and are scheduled to come on-line by the end of 2018.

EDF Energy aims to make energy easy for its customers by doing things better, faster and cheaper and enabling customer engagement by applying digital technologies and innovation. This also involves installing smart meters to our customers’ homes and small business premises, as part of the national programme. EDF Energy helps customers to make the most of their energy consumption and production and of their increasingly connected, smart homes (similarly connected public buildings, communities and cities), whilst providing excellent service and convenience. Through its EDF Energy Services joint venture with Dalkia, including the recently acquired company Imtech, EDF Energy aims to help businesses explore and develop solutions that deliver energy, carbon and cost savings. In response to the major transformations within the energy industry, it has also launched Blue Lab, which aims to rapidly identify, develop and trial new business opportunities and services for customers.

The company supplies gas and electricity to c5.5 million business and residential customer accounts and is the biggest supplier of electricity by volume in Great Britain.

For more detailed information on our business strategy please visit page 55-62 of the Document De Reference.

In partnership with China General Nuclear Corporation (CGN), EDF Energy is constructing the Hinkley Point C power station in Somerset and is developing further new nuclear projects at Sizewell, in Suffolk, and Bradwell, in Essex.

Hinkley Point C

In 2017, key project goals included the pouring of the first ‘nuclear safety’ concrete for the underground service tunnels. Three concrete batching plants were installed and construction work began on a temporary jetty. By the end of the year, there were nearly 3,000 people working on site. The project is on track to reach ‘J-zero’ in mid-2019, when work will begin on structures above ground.

Contracts worth nearly £9.5bn have been signed. The project is on target to deliver 64% of the construction value to UK companies. Almost 4,000 businesses in the South West have been registered on the local supplier database. Contracts worth £465m have been agreed with Somerset and South West companies.

140 apprentices have worked on the project so far (the project aims to employ up to 1,000 apprentices during construction).

Sizewell C

EDF Energy is also working with CGN to progress a similar 3.2GW EPR project at Sizewell in Suffolk, where a second stage public consultation was completed in February 2017. The feedback from this is being reviewed and EDF Energy continues to engage with its stakeholders through further pre-development consent order application consultation.

Bradwell B

Proposals to build Bradwell B in Essex are being led by CGN. The UK HPR1000 reactor design for Bradwell is going through a ‘Generic Design Assessment’ by the regulators, the ONR and Environment Agency. EDF Energy is supporting CGN during this process.