This Monday, February 7, EDF must buy the turbine activity for the nuclear power plants of General Electric. The factory of these enormous parts, among the most powerful in the world, must return under the French flag, after 7 years spent in the American group.
In 2015, Alstom sold them to General Electric. With this acquisition, EDF signs a strategic investment of 270 million dollars (240 million euros). Investment especially wanted by the French State, which remains the main shareholder of EDF.
And it is also a strong symbol for Emmanuel Macron, a way of erasing this sale to the Americans that he himself had signed when he was only Minister of the Economy. This signature had often been criticized on the left but also on the far right. With this repatriation, the Head of State wants to regain control over all the links in the nuclear chain and strengthen the French sector.
After months of negotiations, the transaction must be formalized this Monday evening during a board of directors of EDF.
Emmanuel Macron must go to Belfort, where these turbines are, to present his strategy with regard to the atom. It must specify its recovery plan for new nuclear reactors and according to our information, it should confirm the launch of 6 new conventional EPRs.
It is also expected that the president will detail the construction of small modular nuclear reactors, the SMRs, which are still only at the prototype stage.
A speech eagerly awaited by EDF, which hopes to regain visibility for the future. The company is heavily in debt, to the tune of 42 billion euros, and under pressure from the government, which is asking it to make an effort to avoid the explosion of consumer bills. EDF also accumulates setbacks, with reactors shut down following safety problems. The presidential orders should assure him a more lenient future.