On the heels of a record-breaking four U.S. nuclear plant closings in 2013, France's EDF delivered its own dose of divestment in American nuclear power.
EDF, the world’s biggest nuclear plant operator, said Tuesday it wanted out of its U.S. nuclear plant holdings with Exelon, citing the “the spectacular fall of the price of gas” crippling the good fortune of U.S. nuclear energy, EDF Chief Executive Henri Proglio told a news conference.
But who can blame him.
The withering strength of U.S. nuclear generation has cost the French monopoly $2.7 billion over the last six years.
Not to mention, America has seen an unprecedented shuttering of four nuclear plants in 2013, and EDF’s venture partner Exelon has scrapped major nuclear capacity plans including the expansion of the LaSalle and Limerick plants, for which Exelon took a $100 million hit.
At first, hopes were high for EDF wanting to build a new reactor at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. In 2008, EDF bought a 49% stake in the Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) owning the Calvert Cliffs, for $4.7 billion. In 2012, Exelon then bought Constellation Energy for $7.9 billion thereby creating a joint venture between America’s biggest nuclear and EDF.
But the lure of U.S. nuclear has faded.
So much so that EDF’s CFO Thomas Piquemal says, “this will be the third and what I hope is the last chapter of our U.S. adventure with Constellation.”
According to an agreement, EDF now has a put option to sell the “fair value” of its 49.99% share of CENG from January 2016 to June 2022. EDF will then integrate Constellation’s five nuclear reactors, totaling 3.9 gigawatts (GW), into Exelon’s fleet and receive a $400 million exceptional dividend from Constellation.
Remarkably, EDF has now pledged to amp its renewable energy production in the U.S, Proglio said.
Since 2010, EDF has doubled its U.S. solar and wind generating capacity to 2.3GW. The company also manages an additional 7 gigawatts for other companies, Reuters reports. While increasing its renewables, EDF continues to be the biggest exporter of U.S. coal to Europe.
Furthermore EDF’s nuclear pull-out in the U.S. is not the case in Europe. The UK Government plans to loan EDF $15 billion to build the $21 billion new Hinkley Point nuclear plant, considered a centerpiece of the UK’s $152 billion infrastructure investment blitz taking place between 2015 and 2020. Shortly after EDF’s purchase of Constellation in 2008, the company bought the British Energy Group for $19 billion, thereby gaining control of UK’s nuclear fleet.
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