Électricité de France
Encyclopedia
Électricité de France S.A. (EDF; Electricity of France) is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris
, France
, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe
, Latin America
, Asia
, the Middle East
and Africa
.
EDF is one of the world's largest producers of electricity. In 2003, it produced 22% of the European Union
's electricity, primarily from nuclear power
:
Its 58 active nuclear reactors (in France) are spread out over 20 sites (nuclear power plants). They comprise 34 reactors of 900 MWe
, 20 reactors of 1.3 GWe
, and 4 reactors of 1450 MWe, all PWR
s.
, hydropower
, marine energies, wind power
, solar energy, biomass
, geothermal energy and fossile-fired energy.
. A state-owned EPIC
, it became the main electricity generation and distribution company in France, enjoying a monopoly in electricity generation, although some small local distributors were retained by the nationalisation. This monopoly ended in 1999, when EDF was forced by a European Directive to open up 20% of its business to competitors.
Until November 19, 2004, EDF was a state-owned corporation, but it is now a limited-liability corporation
under private law (société anonyme), after its status was changed by statute. The French government
partially floated
shares of the company on the Paris Stock Exchange
in November 2005, although it retained almost 85% ownership as of the end of 2008.
The company remains heavily in debt. Its profitability suffered during the recession which began in 2008. It made €3.9 billion in 2009, which fell to €1.02 billion in 2010, with provisions set aside amounting to €2.9 billion.
France is the main country to use electricity of nuclear origin as the dominant method of production (78% of French production in 2007).
In May, 2004, the French Interior Minister
Nicolas Sarkozy
reasserted, in front of the French Parliament, the primacy of a nuclear power, much to the relief of labour unions of EDF. In this speech the minister re-phrased the famous slogan, "We do not have oil, but we have ideas", by declaring: "We do not have oil, we do not have gas, we do not have coal, but we had ideas".
Depleted uranium
from reprocessing the spent fuel of the 58 French nuclear power plants was exported from Le Havre
to Russia in the last years and stored in Seversk
where it was enriched, and the new fuel was exported back to France.
The French government has contributed $550 million to a partnership by Electricite de France
with Renault-Nissan and with PSA Peugeot Citroen
.
The nationalisation of electricity and gas on April 8, 1946, which profoundly changed the French electrical and gas organization, had however acknowledged the right of villages to keep their role in the public distribution of electricity and gas.
In 1946, certain firms, villages or groups of villages, did not accept the proposal of nationalisation and created autonomous state controls (who held the monopoly of distribution, until 2004, in their area). To note, contrary to the initial idea, local controllers of electricity, have had, since 1946, the choice to continue to produce electricity. In fact, their production was rather marginal, except in Rhône-Alpes; having often preferred buying the majority of the electrical power from EDF. With the recent opening of the electricity market, local controllers are considering developing, augmenting and diversifying their own production, (e.g. Ouest Énergie, the subsidiary company of SIEDS) and/or to diversify their sources of supply.
To date, the number of local businesses of distribution is approximately 170 and holds 5% of the distribution of French electrical power in 2,500 villages. Created by local authorities, they serve about 3 million people and represent 7,000 jobs. Around thirty of them - 9 during creation in 1962 - are federated in a national entity known as ANROC.
Several departments are not therefore served entirely or partly by EDF, for instance:
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
EDF is one of the world's largest producers of electricity. In 2003, it produced 22% of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's electricity, primarily from nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
:
- nuclear: 74.5%;
- hydro-electric: 16.2%;
- thermal: 10.2%;
- wind powerWind powerWind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
and other renewableRenewable energyRenewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
sources: 0.1%.
Its 58 active nuclear reactors (in France) are spread out over 20 sites (nuclear power plants). They comprise 34 reactors of 900 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
, 20 reactors of 1.3 GWe
GWE
GWE could refer to:* gigawatt electrical; abbreviated as GWe.* Gwersyllt railway station, Wales; National Rail station code GWE.* Thornhill Airport, Gweru, Zimbabwe; IATA airport code GWE....
, and 4 reactors of 1450 MWe, all PWR
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s.
Activities
EDF specialises in electricity, from engineering to distribution. The company's operations include: electricity generation and distribution; power plant design, construction and dismantling; energy trading; transport. It is active in such power generation technologies as nuclear powerNuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, hydropower
Hydropower
Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...
, marine energies, wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
, solar energy, biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
, geothermal energy and fossile-fired energy.
Distribution network (RTE and ErDF)
The electricity network is composed of:- a high and very high voltage distribution system (100,000 km of lines). This part of the system is managed by RTE (transport system of electricity) who acts as an independent administrator of infrastructure, although it stays in the lap of EDF.
- a low and medium voltage distribution system (1,200,000 km of lines), maintained by ErDF (Électricité Réseau Distribution France), formerly known as EDF-Gaz de France Distribution. It was spun off from EDF-Gaz de France Distribution in 2008 as part of the process of total separation of the activities of EDF and GDF SuezGDF SuezGDF Suez S.A. is a French multinational energy company which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas and renewable energy. The world's largest utility after taking control of Britain's International Power, the company was initially formed by the merger of Gaz...
.
Head office
The EDF head office is located along Avenue de Wagram in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. The EDF head office is shared between several EDF sites in Greater Paris.Statistics
- 37 million customers in the world in 2010.
- 2009 Turnover: €63.34 billion (23% from France) - €41.82 billion in 2002.
- Profit: €3.96 billion in 2010 - €3.96 billion in 2009.
- Net profit: €1 billion in 2010 - €3.92 million in 2009.
- Net Debt: €34.4 billion in 2010 - €42.5 billion in 2009.
- Revenue: €65.17 billion in 2010 - €59.14 billion in 2009.
- The quantity of produced electrical power is about 630.4 TWh in 2010.
- Employees: 158,842 persons (2010), among whom 110,000 are based in France.
Main partners and affiliates
- In Europe:
- United Kingdom: 100% EDF EnergyEDF EnergyEDF Energy is an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the United Kingdom...
, formerly British EnergyBritish EnergyBritish Energy was the UK's largest electricity generation company by volume, before being taken over by Électricité de France in 2009. British Energy operated eight former UK state-owned nuclear power stations and one coal fired power station....
Group PLC, which generates about 20 percent of British electricity, mainly from 8 nuclear plants, 100% EDF Trading. - Austria: 100% Vero, 20% Groupe Estag
- Belgium: 100% Semobis,
- France: 74.86% Électricité de Strasbourg, 67% Dalkia Investments, 51% TIRU, 50% Cerga, 50% Edenkia, 50% Dalkia International, 50% SIIF Énergies, 34% Dalkia Hdg
- Germany: 100% EDF Ostalbkreis, 100% EDF Weinsberg, 50% RKI.
- Hungary: 95,56% BE Zrt, 100% Démász
- Italy: Edison S.p.A.Edison S.p.A.Edison S.p.A is the fifth largest energy company in Italy in the field of electricity and natural gas. It produces, imports and sells electric power and hydrocarbons.-History:...
(19,36% + 50% Transalpina di Energia (holding company which control 61,28% of Edison S.p.A.Edison S.p.A.Edison S.p.A is the fifth largest energy company in Italy in the field of electricity and natural gas. It produces, imports and sells electric power and hydrocarbons.-History:...
), 100% EDF Energia Italia which sells directly 2.2 TWh to Italy, 100% Fenice, 40% Finei, 30% ISE - The Netherlands: 100% Finelex, 50% Cinergy Holding
- Poland: 76.63% Rybnik, 66.08% ECK, 49.19% ECW, 35.42% Kogeneracja, 24.61% Zielona Gora
- Slovakia: 49% SSE
- Spain: 100% EDF Iberica (EDF Península Ibérica, S.A)
- Sweden: 100% Skandrenkraft, 36.32% Groupe Graninge
- Switzerland: 50% Chatelot, 50% Emosson, 14.25% Groupe ATEL, 26.26% Motor Columbus
- United Kingdom: 100% EDF Energy
- In America:
- United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: 100% EDF Inc., which controls fully or partially Unistar Nuclear Energy (100%), EnXco (100%), EDF Trading North America (100%) and Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (50% through a joint venture with Constellation EnergyConstellation EnergyConstellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is an energy producer, trader, and distributor. The company operates over 35 power plants in 11 states under its operating company Constellation Commodities Group and/or Constellation Generation Group... - ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
: 25% Edenor, 45% Sodemsa, 22.95% Edemsa - BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
: 100% Lidil, 10% Light Energy (Light Overseas Investment - 35.29% in 2001), 90% Norte Fluminense
- United States
- In Asia:
- China: 85% Synergie, 60% Figlec], 19.6% Shandong Zhonghua Power Cy
- VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
: 56.25% Mecco
- In Africa:
- Côte d'IvoireCôte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
: 50% Azito O&M, 32.85% Azito Energie
- Côte d'Ivoire
Status of EDF
EDF was founded on April 8, 1946, as a result of the nationalisation of around 1,700 smaller energy producers, transporters and distributors by the Minister of Industrial Production Marcel PaulMarcel Paul
Marcel Paul was a French trade unionist and communist politician. He was also a Nazi concentration camp survivor and later served as a member of the French parliament.- Biography :...
. A state-owned EPIC
Établissements publics à caractère industriel et commercial
An établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial or EPIC is a category of public undertaking in France, including some research institutes and infrastructure operators...
, it became the main electricity generation and distribution company in France, enjoying a monopoly in electricity generation, although some small local distributors were retained by the nationalisation. This monopoly ended in 1999, when EDF was forced by a European Directive to open up 20% of its business to competitors.
Until November 19, 2004, EDF was a state-owned corporation, but it is now a limited-liability corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
under private law (société anonyme), after its status was changed by statute. The French government
Government of France
The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...
partially floated
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
shares of the company on the Paris Stock Exchange
Euronext Paris
Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV, which is the second largest exchange in Europe behind the UK's London Stock Exchange...
in November 2005, although it retained almost 85% ownership as of the end of 2008.
Finances
Between 2001 and 2003, EDF was forced to reduce its equity capital by €6.4 billion total because of the performance of subsidiaries in South America and Europe. In 2001, it also acquired a number of British energy companies, becoming the UK's biggest electricity supplier.The company remains heavily in debt. Its profitability suffered during the recession which began in 2008. It made €3.9 billion in 2009, which fell to €1.02 billion in 2010, with provisions set aside amounting to €2.9 billion.
Energy policy
In May, 2004, the French Interior Minister
Minister of the Interior (France)
The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
reasserted, in front of the French Parliament, the primacy of a nuclear power, much to the relief of labour unions of EDF. In this speech the minister re-phrased the famous slogan, "We do not have oil, but we have ideas", by declaring: "We do not have oil, we do not have gas, we do not have coal, but we had ideas".
Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium
Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural uranium . Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3...
from reprocessing the spent fuel of the 58 French nuclear power plants was exported from Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
to Russia in the last years and stored in Seversk
Seversk
Seversk is a closed city in Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Tomsk on the right bank of the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1949, it was known as Pyaty Pochtovy until 1954 and as Tomsk-7 until 1992. Town status was granted to it in 1956.The current Chair of the City Duma and Mayor...
where it was enriched, and the new fuel was exported back to France.
EDF spying conviction
In 2011, a French court fined EDF €1.5m and jailed two senior employees for spying on Greenpeace, including hacking into Greenpeace's computer systems. Greenpeace was awarded €500,000 in damages. Although EDF claimed that a security firm had only been employed to monitor Greenpeace, the court disagreed, jailing the head and deputy head of EDF's nuclear security operation for three years each. Two employees of the security firm, Kargus, run by a former member of France's secret services, received sentences of three and two years respectively.Plug-in hybrids and V2G
EDF is has developed recharging points for the Toyota Plug-in HV in FranceThe French government has contributed $550 million to a partnership by Electricite de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
with Renault-Nissan and with PSA Peugeot Citroen
PSA Peugeot Citroën
PSA Peugeot Citroën is a French manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot and Citroën marques. Headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, PSA is the second largest automaker based in Europe and the number eight in the world.-History:In December 1974 Peugeot S.A....
.
Carbon Intensity
| year | Production (TWh TWH TWH or twh could refer to:*Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse* Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada* TWH Bus & Coach, a bus company in Romford, England* Terrawatt-hour, measure of electrical energy, 1012 watt-hours... ) |
Emission (Gt CO2) | kg CO2/MWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 650 | 91.35 | 141 |
| 2003 | 669 | 96.34 | 144 |
| 2004 | 647 | 95.74 | 148 |
| 2005 | 647 | 93.52 | 145 |
| 2006 | 655 | 93.35 | 142 |
| 2007 | 706 | 101.91 | 144 |
| 2008 | 704 | 103.79 | 147 |
| 2009 | 652 | 88.09 | 135 |
Main competitors
Apart from the producers and foreign distributors, in France, there are some important companies, which, although their market share is weak with regard to that of EDF, are a significant competition. These are:- GDF SuezGDF SuezGDF Suez S.A. is a French multinational energy company which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas and renewable energy. The world's largest utility after taking control of Britain's International Power, the company was initially formed by the merger of Gaz...
: the company formed after the merger of Gaz de FranceGaz de FranceGaz de France was a French company which produced, transported and sold natural gas around the world, especially in France, its main market. The company was also particularly active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. Through its part-owned Belgian subsidiary SPE...
and Suez clearly intends to produce its own electricity, has bought stake in the future EPR nuclear reactors and is poised to become the most credible competitor of EDF in the newly liberalised French electricity market. - SNET (Société nationale d'électricité et de thermique): This company is the successor of depleting coal companies and primarily produce thermal electricity (2,5 TWh). Its capital (81%) belonged predominantly to Collieries of France and with EDF. A portion of the capital (30%) was sold to Endesa, the main Spanish electricity producer, another portion of 35% was sold in 2004. As of 2008 EndesaEndesa (Spain)Endesa, S.A. is the largest electric utility company in Spain. The firm, a majority-owned subsidiary of the Italian utility company Enel, has 10 million customers in Spain, with domestic annual generation of over 97,600 GWh from nuclear, fossil-fueled, hydroelectric, and renewable resource power...
holds 65% of the equity of the generating company Snet. - CNR (Compagnie nationale du Rhône): the capital of which is predominantly public, the company exploits 19 hydroelectric plants installed on the banks of the Rhône. Its production of 19 TWh makes it the second largest French producer with 4% of the market. CNR signed a partnership agreement with Electrabel (a Belgian subsidiary of Suez).
- SHEM (Société hydro-électrique du Midi): a subsidiary of SNCFSNCFThe SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
, of which it produces about 1/3 of the electricity used by SNCF. This company will probably be sold as part of a policy of refocusing of SNCF in due time. A partnership agreement was signed with Electrabel.
Locally controlled or between local councils
Among the other rivals of EDF, one can count a number of municipally governed companies, known under the generic term 'entreprises locales de distribution' ('local businesses of distribution'), who are electricity producers exploiting EDF's network.The nationalisation of electricity and gas on April 8, 1946, which profoundly changed the French electrical and gas organization, had however acknowledged the right of villages to keep their role in the public distribution of electricity and gas.
In 1946, certain firms, villages or groups of villages, did not accept the proposal of nationalisation and created autonomous state controls (who held the monopoly of distribution, until 2004, in their area). To note, contrary to the initial idea, local controllers of electricity, have had, since 1946, the choice to continue to produce electricity. In fact, their production was rather marginal, except in Rhône-Alpes; having often preferred buying the majority of the electrical power from EDF. With the recent opening of the electricity market, local controllers are considering developing, augmenting and diversifying their own production, (e.g. Ouest Énergie, the subsidiary company of SIEDS) and/or to diversify their sources of supply.
To date, the number of local businesses of distribution is approximately 170 and holds 5% of the distribution of French electrical power in 2,500 villages. Created by local authorities, they serve about 3 million people and represent 7,000 jobs. Around thirty of them - 9 during creation in 1962 - are federated in a national entity known as ANROC.
Several departments are not therefore served entirely or partly by EDF, for instance:
- Deux-SèvresDeux-SèvresDeux-Sèvres is a French département. Deux-Sèvres literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department.-History:...
, supplied by SIEDS: Labour union between local councils of Electricity of Deux-Sèvres; - VienneVienneVienne is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese history :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou,...
, supplied by SIEEDV: Labour union between local councils of Electricity and Works of the Department of Vienne; - Charente-MaritimeCharente-MaritimeCharente-Maritime is a department on the west coast of France named after the Charente River.- History :Previously a part of Saintonge, Charente-Inférieure was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, supplied by SDEER: Labour union of Electricity and Rural Works of the Department of Charente-Maritime; - GirondeGirondeFor the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
, supplied by Gironde Electricity. However, the company was sold to EDF at the beginning of 2000 because it could not financially maintain the damage of the severe weather of December 1999, on its network; - AlsaceAlsaceAlsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
; - Rhône-AlpesRhône-AlpesRhône-Alpes is one of the 27 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...
.
See also
- List of French companies
- Energy in FranceEnergy in FranceEnergy in France describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in France. Energy policy of France will describe more in detail the politics of France related to energy. Electricity sector in France is the main article of electricity in France.-Overview:-Companies:Électricité...
- Groupe INTRAGroupe INTRAGroupe INTRA is a French emergency response organization created by the French CEA, and the French nuclear companies Areva and EDF. It maintains a number of emergency intervention teams equipped with high-power radiation-hardened teleoperated mobile robots for intervention in nuclear accidents...