EDF Announces Investments For New Manufacturing Facility in France

EDF (ENS Corporate Member), through its subsidiary Arabelle Solutions, has announced an investment of nearly €100 million to build a new factory in Chalon-sur-Saône, France,  which will supply equipment for France’s future construction programme of six EPR2 reactors, as well as eight additional potential EPR2 reactors, and for new-build programmes abroad.

The announcement was made on 26 April 2026 on the occasion of a joint visit by French Minister Delegate for Energy Maud Bregeon and French Minister Delegate for Industry Sébastien Martin.

The factory will then manufacture key equipment for the turbine hall of nuclear power plants, including moisture separator reheaters and high- and low-pressure heaters, designed to optimise heat exchange where electricity is generated.

It will be built on the Nordéon site, a former brownfield industrial area, allowing rapid construction without additional authorisation procedures, and will be Arabelle Solutions’ fourth factory in France.

First manufacturing operations are scheduled to begin in 2030, with the facility expected to create approximately 160 local jobs by that date.

“This new factory helps structure an integrated value chain, serving competitive, sovereign and low-carbon electricity – vital to the energy security of France and Europe,”

stated Bernard Fontana, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EDF.

Read the full EDF Press Release.

This project builds on investments already announced in January 2026 for Arabelle Solutions’ site in Belfort, where €350 million were committed to increase turbine production capacity.

More broadly, this investment is a direct continuation of France’s latest multi-annual energy plan (PPE3).

In this context, EDF also created the FINABe advisory board last March to facilitate the financing of new nuclear projects worldwide.