“The subject is what happens on a day when it’s very cold”, worries on Monday the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher. As Europe prepares for a possible total shutdown of Russian gas supply and power generation is curtailed due to l’unavailability of part of the nuclear fleet, industry professionals predict likely supply tensions on the coldest days of winter. Emmanuel Macron will hold a defense council on energy this Fridayand the Prime Minister asked companies to present a “sobriety plan” before the end of September.
“For next winter, we have the volumes (of gas) that we need in an average climate”, estimated the deputy director general of Engie, Claire Waysand, during a round table organized by the French employers, this Monday. But “to be sure to have electricity and gas in winter, it is in our interest that the days are not too cold, otherwise there may be days during which there will be real tensions”added the representative of the leading gas supplier in France.
Gas flows from Russia have dried up and Europeans are preparing for a possible total shutdown. Deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be interrupted from August 31 to September 2, for reasons of “maintenance” according to Russian gas giant Gazprom. “It is very difficult to know what will happen next, it is fiction”judged Claire Waysand.
Occasional tensions
For her part, the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher reassured: “today what is in question are hours or days of tension, it is not the whole winter period. The Minister to add : “We are able to cover the winter on average, the subject is what happens on a day when it is very cold”.
“We will do our best, we are mobilizing as much as possible to avoid breakdowns”, said EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy. “We have voluntarily organized things to have a maximum of reactors available (…) from December 1 and even more from January 1”he said. “Today we put aside all chances to best solve the problem that fell on us last winter”he added, referring to the problem of corrosion.
