Électricité de France (EDF) CEO Luc Rémont, whose term was due to expire in July, will not be reappointed and will be replaced by Framatome CEO Bernard Fontana, according to a statement from the Élysée. “The President of the Republic plans, on the proposal of the Prime Minister, to appoint Mr Bernard Fontana as president and chief executive officer of Électricité de France” the presidency said. The appointment has yet to be approved by the relevant committees in the National Assembly and the Senate. Rémont is not expected to complete his term.
“The choice that the government has long supported is electricity that is abundant, clean and not too expensive, and it’s based on this choice that Bernard Fontana’s nomination has been made,” Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said during a trip to Bourges. “He’s an industrialist, which means he’s used to running teams and speeding up projects.” He added: “We are facing new nuclear power plant construction sites, construction sites that are expensive and on which there are a certain number of difficulties.”
The decision came a few days after the Nuclear Policy Council, headed by Macron, had criticised the “cost control and timing” of the nuclear programme. The Council had asked EDF to present by the end of the year detailed costings and timelines in order to avoid the repetition of the experience of the Flamanville 3 project – only new reactor completed in France in the last 25 years, which was 12 years behind schedule and four times over budget.
Luc Rémont had been appointed by the Élysée in November 2022, to rectify the nuclear production of the group, which was heavily indebted and facing an unprecedented crisis due to the discover of corrosion in several of its reactors and drought affecting dams. He was also tasked to lead the nuclear renaissance involving the construction of at least six new EPR2 reactors by President Emmanuel Macron in February 2022.
In 2023 and 2024, EDF did see some improvement, restoring nuclear output after a period plagued by technical problems. However tension increased with the state, which had nationalised EDF by buying out the minority shareholders in 2023. Relations with its key customers, also deteriorated dramatically over high electricity prices.
A French regulation, which obliges EDF to sell more than a quarter of its nuclear generation at a discount price approved both by the government and the European Commission, expires at the end of 2025 and there were concerns that it would not be renewed.
Rémont had suggested combining market pricing with the signing of long-term contracts for customers in energy-intensive industries. However, the terms and prices were less attractive. EDF was also planning to launch a new auction process for other industries, including foreign buyers.
Industrial companies found this unacceptable arguing that high prices affected their competitiveness, while competitors in the US and Asia enjoyed cheaper energy. These concerns were exacerbated by slow economic growth, uncertainties over gas prices due to the Ukraine war, and increasing trade tensions between Europe, the US and China.
Recently, Marc Schuller, chief operating officer of French chemical maker Arkema, told a parliamentary hearing that talks with EDF over new power contracts were “advancing very slowly”. He added: “If nothing is done, we’ll have to consider shutting down sites and stopping some activities because we wouldn’t be competitive anymore.”
Bernard Fontana, current managing director of EDF subsidiaries Framatome and Arabelle Solutions is an engineer by training. He joined Areva NP (now Framatome) in 2015 as Chief Operating Officer and became Chief Executive Officer of in July 2016.
