EDF: a structural partner of canoeing and kayaking in France

EDF has been a loyal partner of the French Canoeing and Kayaking Federation since 1991, and is actively involved in the development of a sport with close ties to its hydropower generation activity.

Two watchwords guide the Group in all of its initiatives in support of canoeing and kayaking: sharing water resources, and protecting both the environment and the canoeists.

Water is at the heart of EDF’s work as an energy company. Essential to EDF’s electricity production, it is a communal asset that the Group makes sure to share with a wide variety of users: local authorities, farmers, industry, anglers, and tourists... as well as people involved in sports, beginning with canoeing/kayaking aficionados.

Canoeing/kayaking is of all the more interest to EDF because the activity itself depends upon the operations of EDF’s dams: competitions can only take place when water is released, which in France is the Group’s responsibility.

The partnership with the French Canoeing and Kayaking Federation (FFCK) has stood for over 20 years as proof of the essential role played by EDF in the sport’s development. Steered by the Hydropower Engineering and Generation Division (DPIH), this structural partnership is designed to support environmentally responsible canoeing and kayaking in France:

• Water released especially for canoeing/kayaking (and rafting) competitions in natural waterways
• The EDF subsidiary, Hydrostadium, engineers white water stadia and mobile rivers so that canoeists can train in urban and suburban areas
• Supporting the careers of top-level athletes like Denis Gargaud and Sébastien Jouve (both triple world champions) - under the watchful eye of Tony Estanguet, the Team EDF ambassador, three-time Olympic champion, and the only Frenchman ever to have won three gold medals in three different Games

Since 2009, spreading the Coloured Paddles method in France, which is a training progression used to teach canoeists/kayakers about safety, skills, and the environment.

We are also an exclusive partner of the Ecole Française de Canoë Kayak, founded to promote club involvement and foster more professional teaching practices. We also sponsor disabled kayaking in order to support clubs that are open to disabled people wishing to try canoeing and kayaking, a sport open to all.