The government expects EDF's new CEO to propose a new strategic plan for the public utility by the end of June 2023, according to a mission statement sent to Luc Rémont in early December by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.

The group, which is in the process of being completely renationalized, is faced with maintenance operations and corrosion problems that are crippling the availability of its nuclear power plants, and has been put under pressure to limit the rise in electricity tariffs, which will weigh heavily on its 2022 results.

In the summer of 2021, EDF also saw the French government abandon a major reorganization plan, dubbed "Hercule", which was supposed to accompany a reform of French nuclear regulation that was supposed to give the company new financial resources, but whose implementation modalities aroused strong opposition linked to fears of dismantling.

"Now that the Hercule project has been abandoned, I would like you to propose, in conjunction with all the company's stakeholders, a new strategic, operational and financial roadmap for EDF's future, in the first half of 2023," wrote Elisabeth Borne in her letter dated December 9, revealed by Les Echos and available to Reuters.

The Prime Minister also set as priorities for Luc Rémont, appointed at the end of November, the restoration of EDF's production in France "to a level consistent with (...) the best international comparables", the control of deadlines and budgets for current nuclear projects, and the recovery "over the long term (...) of the company's financial trajectory", which is heavily in debt.

In January, the EDF CEO will be asked to propose "ambitious and quantified targets for increasing the performance of the nuclear fleet", and in the first half of the year to present an analysis of the causes of low plant availability, according to the Prime Minister's mission statement.

Elisabeth Borne also stressed the need for EDF to develop its export business "in a targeted manner", "in line with (its) financial and industrial capacities", and to return to positive cash flow generation "as soon as possible", by adapting and prioritizing its investments while continuing its efforts to control costs and risks.

On December 16, a few days after Elisabeth Borne's letter was sent, EDF announced a further delay and additional costs for the EPR nuclear reactor project at Flamanville (Manche), now estimated at 13.2 billion euros for a start-up scheduled for the first quarter of 2024, due to work following weld repairs that were more difficult than expected.

The Prime Minister's office had no immediate comment on the letter of assignment sent to Luc Rémont. (Reported by Benjamin Mallet; with Elizabeth Pineau, edited by Bertrand Boucey)