France will be “a major importer of electricity this winter” to compensate for a lack of nuclear production and avoid possible power cuts, Xavier said on Thursday. Piechaczyk, chairman of the executive board of RTE, the manager of the electricity transmission network, on Franceinfo. “France is a very light importer throughout the year and we have to bet on a winter where we will be very importing because we need this electricity”, he added.
Germany, United Kingdom, Benelux, Spain…. “We will be globally, we France, importer this winter of all the countries around us”, he added. “Historically, France was a major exporter because it had a very large nuclear fleet, there it turns out that there are temporary difficulties (…) (which) will be resolved but it will take a few years. During this time we import electricity”. And “no country is reluctant to give us electricity if we need it,” he assured.
“A risky situation”
France has a physical import capacity of 15 GW, which represents “a useful part” to cope with a peak in electricity consumption of 90 GW, and “contributes to being able to avoid cuts”, he explained. . This winter, France is exposed to the risk of cuts, in particular due to the lowest level of nuclear electricity production. Half of its fleet of reactors is unavailable due to scheduled but sometimes prolonged maintenance, or corrosion problems.
In this context, the government will send a circular to the prefects to anticipate and prepare their departments for any scheduled cuts in electricity supply, which could affect 60% of the population but no critical site or priority customer. There is “a risky situation but these cuts should not be considered inevitable”, reassured Xavier Piechaczyk, recalling the need to lower consumption.
Slight drop in consumption
Electricity consumption in France fell by 6.7% last week compared to the average for previous years (2014-2019), a drop “largely concentrated in the industrial sector”, according to RTE’s latest report on Tuesday. This decline, “we are starting to see it in individuals, it quivers (…) of the order of a percent”, commented Xavier Piechaczyk. “On the other hand, we do not yet see a drop in consumption in the tertiary (sector), that is a problem”, he underlined.