AVEVA signs strategic deal to transform EDF’s nuclear engineering capabilities

Global industrial software leader AVEVA has signed a long-term partnership with France's EDF to elevate its 3D nuclear engineering program and deliver leading-edge energy-efficient performance, the companies said.

AVEVA will help drive EDF’s SWITCH digital transformation program with its AVEVA E3D Design solution and other components of the AVEVA Unified Engineering solution. Through this agreement, EDF will strengthen its engineering design portfolio through a faster design and delivery of its nuclear plants as well as advanced safety and performance standards.

“The SWITCH digital transformation program is critical to reinforce EDF’s ambition of producing low-carbon electricity and achieving our carbon neutrality objective by 2050 across our portfolio. AVEVA has been a trusted partner for EDF for more than 30 years, helping us to accomplish our digital transformation. AVEVA understands our requirements and we trust them to enable us to accelerate our clean energy goals,” Xavier Ursat, EDF Group Executive Director – Engineering and New Nuclear Project, said in a statement.

The new partnership between AVEVA and EDF is expected to generate the following results in reducing design work times and in engineering work times, decrease in the need for re-work due to consistently accurate and high-quality deliverables, create faster development rate of 3D models, greater project visibility for all project stakeholders, greater collaboration between design and engineering teams, and extended asset lifespans and the ability to reduce CO2 emissions.

The companies said that the new agreement will see AVEVA digital design systems implemented as the "gold standard" for all new EDF nuclear projects. This new partnership builds on a long-term relationship between the two companies – AVEVA has supported EDF with 3D digital engineering solutions at its N4 nuclear plants since the 1980s.

“We are proud to have built a trusted partnership with EDF that serves as the foundation stone of its digital transformation vision and sustainability programme,” said AVEVA CEO Peter Herweck.

“Our market-leading digital engineering design enables us to support EDF in driving their net-zero energy strategy for the benefit of end consumers throughout the world. With our new agreement, AVEVA will help EDF accelerate engineering collaboration, connect teams and unlock higher performance through shared contextual data and intelligence. We look forward to assisting EDF’s expert engineers to cut design time, improve collaboration and accelerate efficient decision-making to develop the nuclear industry of the future,” he added.