The energy thread

[Jimbuna]

EDF's UK profits soar after electricity price hikes

French energy giant EDF's UK arm returned to profit in 2022, boosted by it being able to sell the electricity it generated for a higher price.

Underlying profit was £1.12bn, compared with a loss of £21m in 2021 mainly down to improved performance from its nuclear electricity generators.

But its UK consumer energy supplier lost more than £200m in the year.

EDF blamed the cost of buying energy for customers which was higher than the prices set under the energy price cap.

The Energy Price Guarantee caps the average household cost of electricity and gas at £2,500 annually.

EDF, which supplies gas and electricity to about five million UK households, is 84%-owned by the French state, but will soon be fully nationalised.

It operates five nuclear power stations in the UK as well as having a large number of wind farms.

Unlike generators who rely on gas to produce power, it benefited from higher electricity prices on wholesale markets in 2022 which brought it a big increase in revenues without an equivalent rise in costs.

Due to competition rules, companies cannot sell their own energy at a discount to their own customers.

The company said it invested more than £2.6bn in 2022 in its UK nuclear, renewables and customer businesses.

It said it planned to invest a further £13bn in the UK in the next three years, largely at Hinkley Point C, the new nuclear power station being built in Somerset that is due to open in 2027.

Some £2bn will be invested in its existing UK nuclear fleet and renewables projects.

The EDF Group posted an underlying loss for 2022 of €4.99bn (£4.44bn) blaming "the decline in nuclear output" and "the impact of the exceptional regulatory measures to limit price increases for consumers in 2022".

The latter refers to a cap on consumer prices imposed by the French government meaning EDF ended up selling the electricity at a lower price than it paid for it.

That cost the group €8.2bn (£7.3bn) in the year, it said, which effectively wiped out the €8.7bn (£7.8bn) it made from "market price rises passed on to customers".

The record loss of almost €5bn comes as the company gets close to becoming fully owned by the French government, with the takeover expected to be completed in May.

The figure prompted the firm's chairman and chief executive Luc Rémont, appointed in November, to focus on future prospects rather than past problems.

"Our priority right now is improving EDF's financial position, and I am confident that the benefits of the actions taken will begin to show in 2023," he said.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64647854