EDF Group results 2016 – highlights for EDF Energy in UK

The worldwide EDF Group’s Annual Results for 2016 have been published this morning. These relate to the performance of the entire EDF Group, and include a summary of EDF Energy’s performance in the UK.

EDF Energy will provide a detailed breakdown of how each part of its business has performed when it publishes its annual segmented accounts before the end of April this year.

EDF Energy in 2016 - key points

• Hinkley Point C – EDF signed contracts with the Government and its Chinese partner CGN on 29 September 2016.  This allowed the project to be fully launched, consultation to move ahead for Sizewell C and licensing and development activity to begin at Bradwell.
• Existing nuclear power stations achieved their highest output since 2003. Output was 65.1 TWh which is 4.5TWh higher than in 2015.  
• Excellent safety performance at our power stations resulted in the lowest number of ‘lost-time’ incidents in the company’s operational history.
• Underlying operating profit (EBIT) in 2016 was £470m.  This was 29% lower than in 2015 (£664m) and was driven mainly by lower wholesale prices.
• EDF Energy reinvested much of its operational profit back into the business. The total investment in 2016 in existing nuclear, coal, renewables and customers was £675m. Investment in new nuclear in 2016 totalled £860m.
• EDF Energy Renewables opened two new wind farms at Pearie Law and Corriemoillie in Scotland and won a contract from National Grid to provide 49MW of battery storage.

New nuclear

The construction of Hinkley Point C has now been fully launched. More than 1,200 people are working on the site each day and the project is making good progress. HPC has awarded contracts in the South-West of around £500m, creating 650 jobs and the project is already boosting skills and industrial capability across the UK. 

The second stage of public consultation for Sizewell C has been completed.

The nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation has been asked to begin the Generic Design Assessment for the UK HPR1000 power station which is due to be built at Bradwell.

Generation

The output of the nuclear fleet in 2016 was 65.1TWh, an increase of 4.5TWh on the previous year and the highest achieved since 2003.

This exceptional performance has been made possible through EDF Energy’s continuing investment in its existing power stations which was £529m in 2016.

During a period of depressed prices, an effective Carbon Price Floor and Capacity Market have been critical in giving EDF Energy the confidence to invest and extend the operating lives of these power stations, providing the UK with reliable, low carbon electricity.

Our coal stations are in a transitional phase and have a dramatically reduced role in electricity generation.  Our teams are responding very well and our stations are ready when they need to be to respond to calls from the National Grid.

Customers  

EDF Energy has continued its focus on customer service with its best ever score in the Citizens Advice Bureau customer complaint table. It has continued with steps to reduce operating costs. In an intensely competitive market, EDF Energy ended 2016 with 5.2m customer accounts, just 80,000 fewer than in 2015.  It continued to make choosing tariffs easy, with a “Show me Your Bill” campaign and has around 45% of customers on fixed tariffs including 60% of vulnerable customers. In 2016, EDF Energy installed 130,000 Smart Meters.

EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz said:

“The exceptional performance of EDF Energy’s existing nuclear power stations is making a huge contribution to security of supply and providing large volumes of reliable, low carbon electricity. Our new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C will play a vital role as the UK continues to make the transition away from fossil fuels. The project is making good progress and is already delivering significant benefits to the national and regional economy, creating jobs and boosting skills and industrial capacity. Our investment in renewables and innovative battery technology is further evidence of our ambition to be at the forefront of the UK’s low carbon future.”

 “We continue to focus on providing the best possible customer service and bringing innovation to energy use at home. In 2017 we will step up our programme to install smart meters. We are currently installing 900 a day.  This will increase to 2,300 smart meters a day by the end of the year. Our Blue Lab innovation accelerator is trialling and developing solutions which will transform our customers’ relationship with energy. Our customer numbers are broadly stable in an intensely competitive retail market.”