The French Court of Auditors (Cour des Comptes), in a report addressed to the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, expressed concern about EDF’s financial prospects, calling for “a clear distribution of the financial effort” between State, the public energy company EDF and the customers. The report said EDF will need to invest some €460bn ($542.39bn) by 2040, mainly in its domestic nuclear fleet, although increasing debt and cash flow problems continue to pose challenges.

Most of France’s 57 nuclear reactors are more than 30 years old and require extensive maintenance to continue operating, while EDF plans to develop another six reactors over the coming years. “Everything related to … preserving the competitiveness of the French economy, involves energy bills,” said Ines Mercereau, President of the Court of Auditors, at a hearing in the National Assembly.

About a fifth of the required investments will be needed to keep the existing nuclear fleet operational until they are 60 years old. This will require €5-6bn a year, according to the Court of Auditors report.

EDF is expected to finalise its plans for the new EPR2 reactors by the end of the year, after which the company will assess costs to make a final investment decision by the second half of 2026. The court estimates the total cost of the first six reactors at €75bn. A further €100bn will be needed as investment for modernisation of EDF’s electricity network subsidiary, Enedis.

The report noted that EDF is expected to have difficulties raising capital for these investments due to its debt, which increased significantly in 2022 during the European energy crisis. EDF has also faced difficulties implementing its new long-term contract scheme. This will replace the old system, which contracted out about a third of its annual production as falling market prices undermined EDF’s ability to draw clients.

To address these issues, the court urged EDF to:

  • Continue monitoring the profitability of investments in renewable energies – in order to avoid excessive losses.
  • Clarify the distribution of costs and risks between the State, EDF and end customers.
  • Determine, before any final investment decision on EPR2, the terms of risk sharing with the State.
  • Carry out a strategic review of investments, participations or subsidiaries that can be sold to free up resources.

However, Mercereau said: “This will not, on its own, resolve the EDF group’s debt situation.”

In August, consulting company FITCH Solutions also raised questions about EDF. It noted that the lack of new capacity in France leads to the need to extend the service life of existing NPPs, which has a negative impact on efficiency and safety. In view of the difficult situation, the French Nuclear Safety & Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR – L’Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire et de Radioprotection) in July was forced to approve the extension of the service life of 20 nuclear units to 50 years – mostly a series of 1.3 GW reactors commissioned in the 1980s.

FITCH recalled that the Court of Auditors in January had announced that France was not ready to commission six new nuclear reactors by 2035 (previously postponed to 2038). Final investment decisions on new projects have not yet been taken due to a lack of funding. However, initial calculations in 2022 assumed a total cost of six power units to be €51.7bn.

Experts also draw attention to serious problems with nuclear power units in France in face of extreme summer temperatures in 2025 which led to a drop in the water level in NPP tanks and its overheating. As a result, the load was reduced at some plants due to cooling problems, which led to an electricity shortage during the busy summer period. FITCH said the situation is expected to worsen given ongoing climate change.

Analysts note an increase in the cost of nuclear electricity in France given the high depreciation of NPP infrastructure. EDF is studying corrosion cracks identified by ANSR at unit 2 of EDF’s Civaux NPP, which was taken offline for maintenance in early April. The news led to a jump in electricity prices and raised concerns about wider nuclear safety in France.