EDF / 2018 Reference document

PRESENTATION OF EDF GROUP Research & development, patents and licences

IMSIA, the Institute of Mechanical Sciences and Industrial Applications, which ■ since June 2015 has brought together ENSTA, CNRS, and CEA Saclay alongside EDF; the Energy Finance and Markets laboratory, shared with Dauphine University, ■ ENSAE and École polytechnique; the Île-de-France Photovoltaic Institute SAS (IPVF), which is an institute for ■ energy transition (ITE) dedicated to developing ground breaking technologies in the photovoltaic field, brings together EDF, Total, Air Liquide, Riber, Jobin Yvon, the CNRS and École polytechnique in a partnership which is supported by the French State within the framework of ITE funding by the Commissariat-General for Investment (CGI). The INSTN, the training & education arm of the CEA, with which three courses on neutron transport will be shared. Further shared courses with the INSTN on materials science are in the works. The R&D sites house two joint research units with the CNRS: the Institute for Mechanical Science and Industrial Applications (formerly Laboratory for the Mechanics of Ageing Industrial Structures, LaMSID) and the Materials Ageing Institute (MAI), an international R&D centre. To carry out its research, EDF continues to invest in powerful and recognised means of digital simulation. It is developing cutting-edge computing code and resources that are among the best in industry. Currently it has a capacity of 4 petaflops. In addition, the Group benefits from unique experimental resources; these include specific analytical loops to study (chemicals/corrosion, failure, aero-acoustics, etc.) loops focusing on components and processes; resources for on site test interventions; and resources dedicated to the characterisation of materials and their ageing. Two recent flagship installations are noted below: Concept Grid: a scaled-down electricity grid for the purpose of trialling and ■ testing the insertion of the innovative hardware and “intelligent” systems that together make up a smart grid, prior to them being installed on the grid itself. Concept Grid is designed to prepare future developments of the grid by studying the integration of new components and equipment from the world of information and communication technology to facilitate demand-side management. It is also intended to facilitate the integration of decentralised production, by studying the behaviour of production resources on the electricity system, and electricity storage applications. Concept Grid provides the missing link between a conventional research laboratory, in which innovations are tested in conditions that are not entirely representative of reality, and the actual grid, where quality of service considerations restrict experimentation; VeRCors: construction of a model reactor building to 1/3 scale in order to study ■ how double containment buildings age. This model was completed in 2016 and the initial tests have been conducted. Due to its reduced thickness, it enables the Group’s researchers to analyse then predict the effects of ageing of the concrete enclosures of reactor buildings and to check the solidity of this type of structure over time. It is used in conjunction with several digital models, which make it possible to model concrete ageing phenomena. In terms of innovation, the R&D plays a leading role in guiding and supporting the Group in the innovation dynamic, established in the context of its “CAP 2030” strategy. To that end, through its Innovation Hub, R&D develops services supporting innovation and explores new avenues of business development. The two ultimate objectives of this Innovation Hub are as follows: support, boost and enhance the value of innovation within the Group: 'innovate ■ now'; this involves supporting the Divisions and R&D in the implementation of innovation processes, growth and entrepreneurship; help to anticipate and explore 'venture forth' disruptive models. These new ■ models may tomorrow constitute new business lines for the Group, whether they are new services or new technological solutions. These initiatives rely heavily on open and collaborative innovation, notably through the animation of a network of external partners and connections with French and international eco-systems. This network (start-up, incubator, major groups) is harnessed in an effort to face the challenges of the Group.

In 2018, approximately 20% of this budget was devoted to protecting the environment. In particular, expenditures covered research into energy efficiency, uses of electricity as a substitute for fossil fuels, renewable energies and their insertion into the grid, energy storage, carbon-free hydrogen and its applications for decarbonising the economy, sustainable cities, the local impacts of climate change and other environmental issues such as biodiversity, water quality, and the mitigation of disturbances. At end 2018 EDF's R&D employed 1,900 people in France representing 29 nationalities. Managers made up 84% of staff and women 31.6%. R&D is home to 117 Ph.D. students and 77 students on work-study programmes. Around 160 researchers teach in universities and major engineering schools. The Division also has 225 employees spread out across the world of which 27 are French expatriates. In late October 2018 EDF's R&D hired 45 people. It channels its employees towards other entities of the EDF group. In late October 2018 the result of this mobility was a net reduction in headcount of 55. The R&D Division is made up of 13 technical departments. Their skills cover all the Group's field of activities: renewable energies and storage, networks, nuclear generation, thermal, hydropower, energy management, trade and services, IT systems, environment. They are specific to particular disciplines, business lines and projects, and also come together for work on major systems. EDF’s R&D Division manages an internal training body, the Technology Transfer Institute (Institut de Transfert de Technologie, ITech), whose purpose is to disseminate EDF’s R&D know-how and innovations to the rest of the EDF group. ITech has a catalogue of training courses which is updated each year. In 2018, out of the 114 courses on offer, 56 were available to professionals from outside the Group. Its courses are part of the syllabi of the Vocational Academies (see section 3.4.1.3 “Skill development: preparing for the future”). In 2018 ITech added a new programme on creating value in innovative projects. At present, the R&D Division is organised on a multi-site basis. Three are located in France in the greater Paris area and six worldwide: Germany, United Kingdom, China, United States, Singapore and Italy. The Chatou and Les Renardières (near Fontainebleau) centres have workforces of 423 and 540 people respectively. EDF's main R&D centre is located in Palaiseau on the Paris-Saclay campus where it opened in 2016. A total of 1,054 Group researchers, doctoral students, interns and EDF partners work at the facilities. The Saclay centre sets fresh ambitions for EDF's R&D and places scientific and industrial innovation and research at the heart of the Group's priorities. EDF's R&D training programme and its training centre, which opened in September 2016, position the Group as a leading player on the Paris-Saclay campus where it is ideally placed to benefit from more dynamic collaboration with the higher education establishments and public and private-sector research centres located nearby. In addition, a number of partnership agreements have been concluded with other institutions of the Paris-Saclay University: SEIDO, a joint EDF-Telecom Paris Tech laboratory dedicated to the Internet of ■ Things and cyber security for electricity systems. Its mission is to prepare and facilitate the deployment of energy demand management and energy efficiency services, making use of interoperable, communicating energy-related objects (heating, air conditioning, white and brown goods, electric vehicles, etc.), thereby helping to provide coherence for the system as a whole, as well as safety (security, confidentiality, and so on); the shared Rise Grid laboratory, devoted to the modelling and simulation of ■ smart grids, in association with the Supélec engineering school; the SEISM Institute for modelling the effects of seismic activity from fault lines ■ through to structures, which was founded by EDF, the French Atomic Energy Commission, CentraleSupélec, the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay, the French Geological Survey (BRGM) and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS); PGMO, the Gaspard Monge Programme for optimisation and operational ■ research, housed by the Jacques Hadamard Mathematics Foundation, and established with the patronage of EDF’s R&D Division;

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EDF I Reference Document 2018