The reason for this is France’s strong dependence on nuclear power – around two thirds of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power plants. However, their production capacities have been severely restricted for some time. Around half of 56 nuclear power plants are currently available. The reasons for this are planned maintenance work that has become necessary and inspections of cracks in the pipes of the emergency cooling system. These are deficiencies that have occurred primarily in the newer generation of nuclear power plants.
According to the energy supplier EDF, it is unclear how long the repair program will last because there is also a lack of skilled workers. Some nuclear power plants have to be taken off the grid for several months. Recently, however, the heat waves, which set in particularly early in France this year, have also had a negative impact on electricity production. France is still struggling with extreme drought. The government expects this might last another two weeks and even get worse.
“Problem child of the European power supply”
France normally exports nuclear power at this time of the year. This year, however, EDF has to buy in Spain, Switzerland, Great Britain and Germany. This situation might get even worse in winter. In France, heating is mainly done with electricity.
“The problem child of the European power supply is clearly France,” said Bruno Burger, energy expert from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), in a recent interview with “Zeit”. Because the bottlenecks in France would also lead to shortages on the EU electricity markets and thus to higher prices.
Warmer cooling water may be discharged into rivers
Due to the high temperatures, some power plants recently had to reduce or completely interrupt electricity generation. Due to the threat of energy shortages, a decree was published on Saturday, according to which five French nuclear power plants will return warmer than usual cooling water to the rivers by mid-September. The measure is to be accompanied by “tightened environmental monitoring”.
The power plants pump water for cooling and later eject it once more. Depending on the plant, this returned water must not normally exceed a certain temperature in order not to endanger the flora and fauna of the river. The first exemptions were already in place for three nuclear power plants for three weeks in mid-July. This exception was extended on Saturday.
Energy supplier is nationalized
The energy supplier EDF is counted. Additional costs arise from the fact that France caps electricity bills for consumers. The outlook for electricity production for 2023 has been reduced from 340 to 370 terawatt hours (TWh) to 300 to 330 TWh. The forecast for this year has also been revised downwards several times. The French government now wants to completely nationalize the indebted energy supplier and is paying almost ten billion euros for this.
“Nationalization is ultimately the only way to save the company and secure the energy supply,” said Ingo Speich from the fund company Deka. “It’s a bitter but necessary step.” Other observers see the decision to nationalize as an admission that the shortage might turn into an existential crisis for companies and the country.