On the occasion of the State Visit to France of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, Henri Proglio, Chairman and CEO of EDF, and Brian Dames, Chief Executive of ESKOM, signed a memorandum of understanding for the foundation of an institute dedicated to training South African engineers in thermal and renewable energies, to be named "EPPEI" (ESKOM Power Plant Engineering Institute).

Under this agreement, EDF'S initial contribution will consist of designing the training programmes. The Group will then provide qualified teaching staff to the institute, which is scheduled to open in 2012, to run the training sessions. ESKOM employees will also have the opportunity to be seconded to one of the EDF Group's production or engineering units as part of a short training programme, in the field of thermal power in particular.

This agreement constitutes a new stage in the 30-year collaboration between EDF and ESKOM, particularly in the field of nuclear energy. Since 2008, against the background of an energy crisis, EDF has also been lending its support to ESKOM for the re-commissioning of 3 thermal power stations which were closed down in the 1990s.

The creation of the "EPPEI" is a continuation of the collaboration between the two groups in the Republic of South Africa, where installed generation capacity is forecast to double by 2030.

Tags: EDF Group