Status: 11/18/2022 3:54 p.m
Because the maintenance of many nuclear power plants in France is ongoing, the risk of bottlenecks in the country is increasing. The amount of nuclear power is well below the original forecast, said network operator RTE.
France’s power grid operator RTE sees an increased risk of supply bottlenecks in the coming winter because the maintenance of a number of nuclear power plants is dragging on. The amount of nuclear power available from mid-December to mid-February will be well below the forecast and lead to an increased risk of bottlenecks, the network operator said.
Recent strikes by power plant personnel caused delays. In addition, the energy company EDF announced at the beginning of November that four power plants would remain offline longer than planned to check and repair corrosion problems.
Increased risk especially in January
Electricity consumption is expected to be five to seven percent lower over the winter, mainly due to lower demand from industry. In the core of the winter, however, the decline in industrial consumption could no longer compensate for the nuclear power production, which had been revised downwards, explained RTE after its updated analysis. In January in particular, there is an increased risk of bottlenecks, even with only a moderate cold snap.
If the power system is very strained, the risk of a power outage cannot be completely ruled out, it said. However, it could be avoided if the population reduced national consumption by one to five percent in most cases and by up to 15 percent in the most extreme weather conditions. The situation is expected to ease from the end of February, depending on how many of the nuclear power plants are actually back on the grid.
26 of the 56 French nuclear power plants are currently off the grid for maintenance and repairs, and a number of reactors are expected to start up again in the coming weeks. Because of feared bottlenecks, France has agreed to supply electricity from Germany and in return supplies natural gas to Germany.