ENEL and EDF announced the creation of an equal basis joint venture for the nuclear development in Italy
– By Mark McFadden –
Enel and EDF have announced the creation of the equal basis joint venture “Sviluppo Nucleare Italia Srl” aimed at developing the feasibility studies for the construction of at least 4 advanced third generation EPR units as traced by the agreement Enel and EDF signed on 24 February during the Franco-Italian summit in Rome.
Enel and EDF will hold a 50% stake in the joint venture respectively and the company will be headquartered in Rome, Italy.
Once the studies have been completed and the necessary investment decision taken, individual companies will be instituted to build, own and operate each of the EPR power plant.
Fulvio Conti, CEO and General Manager of Enel commented:” The creation of this joint venture lays the ground for a concrete come back of the nuclear in Italy and represents a unique opportunity for contributing to the recovery of the country’s economy, creating specialized jobs and increasing employment. In the past few years Enel has been able to rebuild the nuclear skills and expertise, thanks to its international operations and we are now ready to take the lead of the Italian nuclear programme in co-operation with EDF, a world key player in this industry.”
Pierre Gadonneix Chairman and CEO of EDF said:“ EDF is delighted to be able to participate side by side with a major industrial partner such as ENEL in the relaunch of nuclear production in Italy, a secure, competitive and CO2 free source of energy. The creation of this joint venture is a definitive step forward which bears witness to the successful cooperation which EDF began with ENEL in 2007 in the ongoing construction of the EPR at Flamanville in Normandy. This partnership is in line with EDF’s Group strategy aimed at strengthening its position in Europe and at being the world leader of the revival of nuclear energy.”
The agreement for the creation of the company “Sviluppo Nucleare Italia Srl” sets the two parties commitments as well as the corporate governance rules. The joint venture envisages the creation of a Board of Directors composed by eight members, four of which will be appointed by EDF, including the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman whereas the remaining four will be nominated by Enel and that includes the appointment of the CEO.
The creation of Sviluppo Nucleare Italia marks a first, substantial step towards the implementation of nuclear projects in Italy and followed the approval of the Law Decree on 9th July 2009 thus paving the way to the development of nuclear projects in Italy.
The EDF Group is an integrated energy company active in all electricity related businesses: production, transmission, distribution, wholesale and trading. It is the leading operator in the French electricity market and holds a strong position in three other key European markets (Germany, UK and Italy), making it one of the leading electricity producers in Europe and a recognised gas supplier. With an installed power capacity of 127.1 GW worldwide (124.8 GW in Europe) and global production of 609.9 TWh, it has the largest production capability of any major European supplier and produces the smallest amount of CO2 due to the share of nuclear and hydro power in its production mix. The EDF Group supplies electricity, gas and associated services to more than 38 million customers worldwide, almost 28 million of them in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of €64.3 billion in 2008, 46.7% of which was from international operations. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.
Enel is Italy’s largest power company, and Europe’s second listed utility by installed capacity. It is an integrated player which produces, distributes and sells electricity and gas. Further to the acquisition of the Spanish utility Endesa, Enel has now a presence in 23 countries with approximately 95,000 MW of generating capacity and serves over 61 million power and gas customers. Listed on the Milan stock exchange since 1999, Enel has the largest number of shareholders of any Italian company, at some 1.3 million retail and institutional investors in 2008. Enel is also the second-largest Italian operator in the natural gas market, with approximately 2.7 million customers and a 10% market share in terms of volumes (figures as of December 31st 2008).