This week’s agreement between the French government and EDF to restructure the regulated pricing of French nuclear-produced electricity beginning in 2026 may provide EDF the financial foundation it needs to meet its enormous capital demands of the coming decades, assuming power prices stay high. The Nov. 14 agreement aims to ensure that EDF’s nuclear electricity is sold at an average of €70 ($76) per megawatt hour in a bid to both protect French consumers from elevated electricity bills and provide EDF with enough revenue to self-finance part of its massive life extension and new reactor programs. But that €70 figure is largely aspirational — while there are two ceilings capping EDF’s exposure to much higher market prices, there is no comparable floor protecting EDF from low power prices — and significant questions remain about how the mechanism will work.
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