On 2 April 2026, Électricité de France (EDF) unveiled its “Net Zero 2050 Scenario Report” at the European Energy Day event in Brussels. The report, developed jointly by EDF’s R&D division and external academic institutions, presents three scenarios: “Baseline Trajectory”, “Accelerated Electrification”, and “Race to Carbon Neutrality”.

The core conclusion: Europe can fully achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but the electricity sector must reach carbon neutrality by 2035 and nuclear power must retain at least a 35% share of low carbon baseload. The report details milestones for each five year period: between 2026 and 2030, the EU must add 40 GW of solar and 20 GW of wind annually; between 2030 and 2040, it must phase out 5 GW of coal and 10 GW of gas per year, while adding 3 GW of large or small modular reactors; after 2040, green hydrogen penetration in the steel and chemical industries must exceed 70%.

EDF’s CEO emphasised: “Net zero is not just ‘wind and sun’. It requires system integration – long duration storage, smart grids, demand response, and diversity of low carbon generation.” The report also focuses on social fairness, proposing a “Just Transition Monitor” to assess the impacts on employment, electricity prices and public health for each EU region. The report is seen as EDF’s strategic response to the geopolitical changes in Europe – leveraging France’s strong nuclear fleet as a lever to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian gas.