Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 24, 2026
3 min readLast updated: March 24, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleEU will probe a massive French state aid scheme to EDF for six new nuclear reactors—worth tens of billions of euros—to assess competition concerns and delay risks.
By Kate Abnett and Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, March 24 (Reuters) - EDF is set to face an EU investigation into a state aid package for building six nuclear power plants over concerns the support will reinforce the state-owned French utility's market dominance, people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The scheme, worth tens of billions of euros, is central to France's plan to renew its ageing nuclear fleet, and would add about 10 gigawatts of capacity, with the first reactor due to be commissioned in 2038. A lengthy EU investigation would risk delaying that timeline.
The European Commission - the EU competition enforcer - is expected to open an investigation next month, the people said.
France put in a request late last year for Brussels to approve the state support, which includes a subsidized loan covering at least half of the construction costs of the six nuclear reactors.
The new plants would replace old nuclear plants and secure future energy supplies to cover rising demand over the next decade, driven in part by the energy needs of data centres.
EU regulators want more time to look into the complex undertaking, one of the country's biggest public projects in years, the people said.
Brussels is concerned that the six new power plants would further entrench state-owned and dominant energy player EDF's market share. The company already holds more than 75% of France's net electricity production.
Bolstering EDF's market share may distort competition and preclude new players from entering the market, one of the sources said, citing the Commission's concerns.
The Commission, the French Energy Ministry and EDF declined to comment.
The project announced in 2022 is now estimated to cost 72.8 billion euros ($84 billion) in 2020 values.
An in-depth EU investigation would also allow the Commission to build an ironclad case in the event that Austria's government - which is opposed to nuclear power - launches a legal challenge against the Commission's approval of the deal, which some EU officials deem likely, one of the people said.
Vienna has previously challenged state aid for nuclear projects in Hungary and former EU member Britain.
($1 = 0.8634 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Kate Abnett, additional reporting by Forrest Crellin and Leigh Thomas in Paris; editing by Andrei Khalip)
The EU is concerned the state aid may reinforce EDF's market dominance and distort competition in the energy market.
The package offers subsidized loans covering at least half the construction costs for six new nuclear reactors.
The project is estimated to cost 72.8 billion euros based on 2020 values.
A lengthy EU investigation may delay the timeline for commissioning, with the first reactor planned for 2038.
Austria has previously challenged state aid for nuclear projects in Hungary and the UK and may challenge this case as well.
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