France shuts down nuclear reactors amid the deepening energy crisis

France’s main power generator, EDF (Électricité de France), was forced to extend the outage of two nuclear reactors of its power plants and shut down two more due to maintenance and safety reasons. Traditionally, France exports electricity in Europe, however the unexpected halt has already led to a significant increase in imports to cover the internal demand.

As a result of the shutdown, along with other factors such as the low gas reserves in Europe and the low temperatures causing increased demand, the wholesale market prices jumped once more to new record highs not only in France, but also affecting prices in interconnected countries. This extraordinary occurrence is expected to put even more pressure on top of an already unstable European energy market, affecting prices in 2022 for as long as the outages are going to last.

The reactors account for almost 10% of the country’s nuclear capacity and the stoppages will result in a loss of about 1 TWh by the end of 2021. To avoid potential blackouts, the government is asking EDF to speed up the reopening of some reactors and is also reimbursing companies for cutting consumption during peak demand hours.

The crisis comes at a time when France has put pressure to the EU to recognise nuclear power as a sustainable, low-carbon energy source that could eventually make Europe independent and less volatile to the fluctuating prices.

Authors:

Anastasia Papageorgiou, Journalist

Ioannis Korras, Energy Market Analyst

Sources:

[1] REUTERS: “France's EDF takes more nuclear reactors offline after faults found”, 17.12.2021

[2] BusinessDay: “Nuclear outages could see Europe face energy crunch”, 16.12.2021