EDF to lead French bid for Abu Dhabi deal

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“What is envisaged today, although nothing is set yet, is a management structure for the project, in which EDF would head up the project in association with GDF Suez,” Henri Proglio told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

Power and gas group GDF Suez, oil major Total and Areva, the world’s biggest nuclear reactor maker, bid for the Abu Dhabi contract nearly two years ago, and were initially seen as frontrunners. But the French consortium which EDF joined earlier this year after a request by the United Arab Emirates to French President Nicolas Sarkozy have recently appeared to be losing ground to a rival bid by Korea Electric Power Corp.

A consortium comprising General Electric and Japan’s Hitachi is also bidding. In an effort to compete with the cheaper South Korean offer, the French consortium reduced its price in November, two sources said and added that they were now waiting for Abu Dhabi’s decision.

But Proglio, chief executive of the world’s largest single operator of nuclear power plants, told reporters that a bid would be submitted on December 10. The French bid could send more information about the consortium to Abu Dhabi in coming days, one source close to the situation told Reuters, but would not confirm the December 10 date.

 

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