GE Vernova has completed the previously announced sale of a part of its steam power business to French electric utility company EDF.
The financial terms of the deal were not revealed.
The transaction encompasses the production of conventional island equipment including Arabelle steam turbines for new nuclear power plants. It also includes related maintenance and upgrade activities for existing nuclear plants outside the Americas.
EDF said that the transferred steam nuclear activities business will be operated under the name Arabelle Solutions.
Arabelle Solutions will provide equipment for new nuclear power plants and will also be responsible for maintaining and upgrading equipment in existing nuclear power plants.
In addition, steam turbines of Arabelle Solutions will be leveraged in the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR), EPR2, and small modular reactor (SMR) series.
Through the acquisition, EDF will get hold of major technologies and skills for the nuclear sector and European energy security.
EDF chairman and CEO Luc Rémont said: “I am delighted that one of the flagships of the nuclear industry, Arabelle Solutions, is, as of now, a part of the EDF Group, enabling us to deploy the technologies and the maintenance services that are pivotal both for EDF and other nuclear operators in France and abroad.
“This acquisition supports the relaunch of nuclear reactor construction, which Europe needs in order to decarbonise its economy and ensure its energy sovereignty, with a fully autonomous European industrial sector.”
EDF and GE signed an exclusivity agreement pertaining to the deal in February 2022. This was followed by a final agreement in November 2022, which has now closed after the completion of all necessary conditions.
Following the closing of the deal, GE Vernova now maintains a services-focused steam power business. This includes services for over 100GW of nuclear turbine islands in the Americas region.
Besides, the company retains GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. The latter is a lifecycle provider for reactor islands, global nuclear fuels, and services, which is engaged in deploying commercial, grid-scale SMR technologies.
GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said: “Completing this transaction is an important milestone for GE Vernova. I’d like to thank our teams for their efforts to bring this transaction to a successful conclusion.
“Going forward, GE Vernova plans to continue to be a best-in-class services partner for our other Steam Power customers and is focused on advancing the future of nuclear power with our small modular reactor technology.”
