| Type | Public (Euronext: EEN) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy |
| Founded | Paris, France (2004) |
| Founder(s) | Pâris Mouratoglou |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Key people | Pâris Mouratoglou (Chairman of the board) and David Corchia (CEO) |
| Products | Electricity generation and development. |
| Revenue | €1.07 billion (2008)[1] |
| Operating income | €215 million (2008)[1] |
| Profit | €76.9 million (2008)[1] |
| Employees | 900 (2007)[1] |
| Website | edf-energies-nouvelles.com |
EDF Energies Nouvelles is a French renewable energy corporation, half owned by French electric utility Électricité de France. It was formed in 2004 from its predecessor SIIF Energies and was floated on the Paris stock exchange in 2006.
EDF En is primarily involved in the production of wind power in Europe and the United States, although it is investing heavily in solar energy. It also has interests in ocean power and biofuels.
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EDF Energies Nouvelles is a publicly traded corporation with 25% of its equity capital trading on the Euronext Paris, 50 percent held by state-owned electric utility Électricité de France and the remaining 25 percent by founder Pâris Mouratoglou and family. It operates in 13 countries in North America and Europe.
Almost half of EDF En's revenue comes from its wholly owned American subsidiary, EnXco, which was acquired in 2002. EnXco builds and operates wind and solar projects under its own name in the United States.
In Europe EDF En develops similar renewable energy projects, often with the participation of local partners or other energy firms. EDF En is currently building France's largest solar panel plant in a 50/50 partnership with First Solar.
EDF Energies Nouvelles traces its origins to its predecessor company, SIIF Energies. SIIF was founded in 1990 by Pâris Mouratoglou to develop small scale hydroelectric and solar projects in France and its overseas territories. In 1999 SIIF expanded into developing wind power, which rapidly became its dominant business.
In 2000 EDF purchased 35% of the SIIF, and in 2002 raised its stake to 50%. In the same year SIIF acquired the American wind energy firm EnXco, which more than doubled its revenues. In 2004 SIIF Energies decided to change its name to EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF "New Energies") to reflect its largest shareholder, and in 2006 it floated 25% of its capital onto the public capital markets.
Since 2007, EDF Energies Nouvelles has expanded rapidly into solar generation, and began laying the groundwork for eventual moves into algae biofuels, ocean energy and biogas markets.
EDF Energies Nouvelles is largely a developer of wind farm projects, but has the goal of diversifying into all commercially viable renewable energy technologies. At the end of 2008 the firm had 1,564 MW of net installed generation capacity around the world, with an additional 17,000 MW under development.
The heart of EDF En's revenues are derived from the construction of wind farms in the United States and Europe, which it either sells to utility customers or operates for electrical generation revenues. Most often EDF En partners with utilities or other energy firms, and thus only owns a certain share of each individual project. At the end of 2008 wind energy made up 89% of the firm's net installed capacity, with hydropower largely making up the remainder. The figure for solar power was only .9%.
In 2009, however, EDF En identified solar photovoltaic energy as an additional core business and currently has 2,078MWp of solar power under development, representing an 100 fold increase of its existing solar capacity. In July 2009, EDF En announced a 50/50 joint venture with thin film solar leader First Solar to build France's largest solar photovoltaic plant. The plant is expected to generate 100MWp of generating capacity a year, and guarantees EDF En the right to purchase the plant's entire output for the first 10 years of operation.[2]
Since 2007 EDF En has pursued a strategy of diversifying itself away from its core wind energy business. While solar energy has since become a core focus of the group, EDF En maintains smaller interests in several other areas of renewable energy:
EDF En holds a 25% interest in Alco, a Belgian ethanol producer, and runs a small facility in Southern Italy which generates electricity from olive oil waste.
EDF En typically develops large scale projects intended for use by electric utilities. However, it maintains a 50/50 partnership with EDF in EDF Energies Reparties, which sells small scale solar and wind directly to homebuilders and homeowners for on-site distribution. In 2008 the business provided nearly 15% of gross revenues.
EDF En owns 50% of the Northern Hemisphere development rights to the CETO wave power and desalination technology, with the Carnegie Corporation of Australia holding the remainder, along with all the rights in the Southern Hemisphere (with the exception of the French department of Réunion). Unlike other wave energy technologies, CETO uses undersea buoys to pump pressurized water to the shore and generate electricity with a traditional turbine. This system avoids the visual impact of floating wave farms, and does not require transmission lines be built into the sea. It also offers the possibility of co-generating renewable freshwater through a reverse osmosis process . EDF En hopes to bring the CETO technology to market by 2011.
EDF En also has a partnership with French shipbuilder DCNS for the sharing of marine generation technologies, including wave energy and the more experimental current power, and ocean thermal. [3]
EDF En currently exclusively develops onshore wind farms, however the offshore wind market is developing rapidly. EDF En thus has invested a 20.6 percent stake in the C-Power Consortium, which is currently seeking to develop a 300MW wind farm off the coast of Belgium.