EDF invests more in Britain than it earns in profits for the sixth year running

• EDF continued to be a net investor in Britain in 2023, spending £3.6bn strengthening the country’s energy security and boosting jobs, while earning £3.4bn EBITDA
• Since 2018, EDF has invested double what it has made back into Britain, investing £2 for every £1* it has made
• EDF paid around £600million in taxes in 2023, including £200million through the new Electricity Generator Levy.
• Benefits to Britain’s energy security and economy in 2023 include:
  • Nuclear output was nearly four times the forecast when EDF acquired the fleet in 2009, following £7.5bn of investment.
  • EDF’s generation helped avoid more than 13m tonnes of carbon, equivalent of taking 6 million cars off the road.
  • The company created nearly 2,000 jobs in communities across Britain in 2023 and aims to recruit over 2,500 roles in 2024.

Please follow this link to the EDF Group media release relating to the Group’s Annual Results for 2023, which were published this morning. These relate to the consolidated performance of EDF Group and include a summary of EDF’s performance in the UK.

In the UK, EBITDA was £3.4billion and net investment was £3.6billion, meaning investment was greater than EBITDA for the sixth year running.

The growth in EBITDA was driven, in particular, by performance in sales to medium and large businesses and strong results from the nuclear generation business. In the residential segment, allowances in the Ofgem domestic default tariff cap allowed suppliers to recoup some of the losses incurred at the height of the energy crisis.

The growth in net investment reflected a ramp up in money spent on new nuclear and renewables projects, investment in energy efficiency and maintenance of the existing nuclear fleet.  Over the past six years EDF has invested £2 in the UK for every £1 made in EBITDA. EDF will invest a further £1.3billion in the remaining five nuclear generating stations over the next three years.

Highlights for the UK:

• For every £1 in profit during 2023, EDF invested £1.10 back into British low carbon energy infrastructure and jobs*, running existing and building future nuclear and renewables infrastructure and in helping its customers save cash and carbon.
• Hinkley Point C achieved a major milestone, with the dome successfully lifted onto the first reactor building in December, allowing the next phase of work to accelerate.
• Sizewell C triggered its Development Consent Order paving the way for full construction.
• EDF maintained its position as Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, with EDF’s existing nuclear fleet providing around 13% of the UK’s total power demand in 2023, helping save around 13m tonnes of carbon, equivalent to taking 6 million cars off the road.
• EDF paid around £600million in taxes in 2023, including £200million through the new Electricity Generator Levy.
• EDF Business Solutions (medium and large business segments) increased the number of meter points supplied from 224,000 to 254,000 (13%).
• EDF’s residential service was rated the best of the large suppliers by Citizens Advice in its most recent assessments.
• To help struggling households, EDF boosted its direct support for those most in need by more than £15million as well as increasing its 2023 ECO and Great British Insulation Scheme funding by £103million to increase energy efficiency for households.
• After incurring losses between 2019 and 2022, allowances in Ofgem’s price cap allowed suppliers to recover some of the losses incurred at the height of the energy crisis.

Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK, said: “The strong operating performance of EDF in the UK and the support of the Group enabled us to continue to invest significantly in Britain in 2023. EDF is a long-term partner to Britain, and I am proud of our role over 25 years strengthening the country’s energy security and cutting carbon emissions.”

Nuclear power

Total output in 2023 was 37TWh and this provided around 13% of the UK’s total power demand. Output was 15% lower than in 2022 due to station closures and statutory outages but nearly four times the forecast when EDF acquired the fleet in 2009. EDF will invest a further £1.3billion in the five generating stations over the next three years in a concerted effort to keep nuclear output stable after several years of decline due to older stations retiring. This comes on top of £7.5billion of investment (equivalent to £270 per household) since EDF acquired the fleet 15 years ago. Nuclear operations employ around 5,000 people in this part of EDF, spending over £700million in the supply chain each year.

New Nuclear/UK EPR programme: Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C

At Hinkley Point C, the dome was successfully lifted on to the first reactor building in December, allowing the next phase of work to accelerate. The first reactor was delivered to site and is ready for installation later this year. Offshore marine work is complete, and work to connect the tunnels with the Bristol Channel is underway. In January, the project provided an update on its cost and schedule. The aim of the project is to bring Unit 1 into service around the end of the decade, and the construction cost is estimated to be between £31 billion and £34 billion in 2015 values.

Around 22,000 jobs are supported by Hinkley Point C across Britain, with over 1,300 apprentices trained on site so far. Some 3,700 British companies are in the supply chain, with £5.3 billion being spent with South West companies alone.

Sizewell C triggered its Development Consent Order paving the way for full construction. This also allows funding worth £250m to be delivered in stages to local communities. The Government is now the majority shareholder in Sizewell C and has allocated funds totalling £2.5 billion to support the project. In September 2023, the UK government launched an equity raise process to secure the capital required for financing the project.

Customers

In Customers, EDF Business Solutions (EBS) increased the meter points it supplied by 13% and Wholesale Market Services remained the leading UK provider of battery optimisation services, signing 961MW of contracts in 2023.

In Retail, EDF’s service was rated the best of the large suppliers by Citizens Advice in their most recent quarterly Energy Supplier Performance Tables. It increased support available for customers in need by £15m, including effectively rolling back standing charges to pre-energy crisis levels for 273,000 vulnerable customers, totalling £8.2m. EDF committed a spend of £185m on ECO and GBIS in 2023, benefitting 14,000 households and giving the average customer an annual bill saving of between £700 and £800 per year. EDF also reopened contracts for 15,000 small and medium businesses to help those that fixed prices at the height of the energy crisis. Customers also completed its acquisition of heat pump installer CB Heating in November.

Renewables

EDF Renewables has continued its growth across all renewables technologies in 2023.  During the year, it completed construction and achieved first output on its three grid-scale solar projects. As well as its West Benhar onshore wind project and Bustleholme and Coventry battery projects all entering operational phase.  With partner ESB, construction continued of the 450MW Neart na Gaoithe (NNG) offshore wind project, 15km off the coast of Scotland, which is expected to enter operations in 2024.

Development of the Codling offshore wind project in the Republic of Ireland with partner Fred Olsen took a significant step forward with the award of an ORESS contract securing a long-term route-to-market.  EDF Renewables also achieved Financial Investment Decision on its Stranoch 97MW onshore wind project as well as three merchant battery projects. Finally, Longfield DCO solar and battery project, EDF Renewables UK’s largest solar site to date, was also granted planning consent by the UK Government.

Dalkia UK (Imtech)

In 2023, Imtech successfully integrated Spie UK, rebranded as Dalkia UK, and continued to grow with a turnover of £608m and closing order book at £1,137m, up 8.5% from the previous year.

For more information contact:
Megan Johnson, Head of Corporate and Customers Media Relations

media@edfenergy.com

Notes / Glossary of terms 

*Net investment based on £ investment for every £1 made in EBITDA, as opposed to EBIT operating profits. 

EDF Renewables’ and Imtech's accounts are not included in the UK part of the Group release as they are consolidated and presented as part of the EDF Renewables Group and Dalkia respectively. This along with other required consolidation accounting adjustments means that the subsequently published UK Group financial statement values do not always directly correspond to the amounts presented in EDF SA announcements. 

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) 

This is effectively the company’s net income from selling energy minus its operating expenses, but it excludes the significant costs involved in repaying loans, paying tax and the declining value of the assets it owns (e.g. buildings, power stations and equipment). 

It also does not include the amount a company must invest to maintain existing assets or build new power stations.