EDF sees French energy plan shaping nuclear depreciation schedule
By Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) - The French government's energy investment plan due in July will be a key indicator for whether and for how long EDF will extend the depreciation period of its nuclear plants, an executive said on Thursday. EDF hopes to get nuclear energy regulator ASN's authorisation to extend the lifespan of its nuclear plants to 50 years from 40, and already wants to extend the depreciation period on these assets, which would boost bottom-line profit. Early this year ASN said it expects to give generic guidelines on French nuclear plant life extensions by 2018, but said extensions could not be taken for granted and that they would be decided reactor by reactor. The government's long-awaited multi-year energy investment plan (PPE) - implementing the August 2015 energy transition law - will not specify reactor lifespan, but should set targets for the share of nuclear in France's power mix. President Francois Hollande has vowed to reduce that share from 75 percent to 50 by 2025, but has taken no concrete steps towards that goal. "The PPE, and notably its nuclear chapter, expected early July, will figure largely in our decision about the accounting lifespan of our nuclear reactors," EDF nuclear chief Dominique Miniere told reporters. In 2003, EDF extended the depreciation schedule for its reactors in its accounts to 40 years from 30 - six years before the ASN authorised the move. CEO Jean-Bernard Levy said in April EDF plans to extend the depreciation period by the closing of first-half results. Miniere said the PPE should signal how many of EDF's 58 reactors can keep operating, which will determine over what period reactors and related maintenance costs can be depreciated. He said life extension would also impact EDF's 23 billion euros (1 billion pounds) worth of decommissioning and nuclear waste provisions. "Delaying reactor decommissioning also means delaying provisions," he said. Miniere said 80 percent of EDF's 58 reactors were built between 1980 and 1990. From 2020, many need to close or get approval operate another decade. Miniere said every reactor has annual maintenance costs of about 50 million euros, or about 3 billion euros per year for EDF's fleet. Extending EDF's reactors by 10 years and incorporating safety lessons learned from the Fukushima disaster will boost that to 4-4.2 billion euros per year in the 2014-2025 period, a total of just over 50 billion, after which costs will ease to 4.2-3 billion euros per year, he said. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq, editing by David Evans)
