2023-08-23 16:51:33
The air conditioners running at full speed in France, due to the heat wave, are driving up the price of electricity not only among our neighbours, but also in our country.
The price of electricity on the wholesale market has reached its highest level for several months. On the futures market, between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., the price of Thursday’s delivery thus amounts to 265 euros per megawatt hour.
According to Matthias Detremmerie, co-founder of the energy supplier Elindus, this surge in the price of electricity is due to the heat wave which is raging in France. Due to high temperatures, air conditioners are turned on en masse, which increases power consumption.
Read also In the south of France, fruits and cereals burn because of the heat wave
The high temperatures slow down the production of electricity from nuclear power plants, explains the specialist. In the event of a heat wave, the temperature of the cooling water, generally drawn from natural sources, increases significantly. This temperature increase reduces the cooling efficiency of nuclear reactors, which requires reducing their production to maintain safe conditions.
Finally, little wind is currently circulating in Western Europe. It is therefore essentially from gas-fired power stations that electricity is produced there. In recent weeks, moreover, the price of gas has soared, pushed by a threat of strike hanging over Australian gas terminals.
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