France struggles to avoid electricity cuts as winter tests energy resolve

France is not planning to have any electricity cuts. However, the country is currently facing an influx in energy demand as the winter tests the resolve of Europe to save energy and avert the effects caused by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

France to avoid electricity cuts

Leaders across France have called upon everyone to be conservative in using fuel. This has so far worked, as the weather conditions have been mild. However, the dropping temperatures could raise energy demands significantly in the coming weeks.

The gas storage in Europe is nearly 90% full after the member states worked together to avert the disruption to supply caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, France has also suffered several nuclear outages, raising more concerns from the public. Corrosion has damaged several nuclear reactors, and the country’s nuclear output is now at 30-year lows.

However, as the start of the new week marks a further fall in temperatures across Europe, the RTE grid operator has said that electricity cuts were yet to be planned. RTE further said that 41 of the EDF nuclear reactors would be available from Monday, generating 39 gigawatts of power, which was enough.

The EDF has said that output had increased in three nuclear reactors after repairs were conducted. It is also planning to conduct repairs on the Penly 2 nuclear reactor early next year.

So far, the efforts that households and companies have made to reduce electricity consumption could enable France to avoid load-shedding in the coming week. However, there is an apparent risk if the cold weather persists for the entire week.

Energy prices have been increasing this year, and they reported another spike on Friday amid concerns that the demand would outweigh the supply. However, France has positioned itself as a nuclear-power dependent country, enabling it to withstand the high demand amid soaring prices.

France generates over 70% of its electricity from the 56 reactors it owns. It further supplies around 15% of the total power used in Europe. While the government has said that power cuts could happen, it has assured that they would not last for more than two hours.

Electricity demand across Europe

In Finland, the national grid operator said there was an increased risk of power outages during the winter. The possibility of these outages increased after the start of the new Olkiluoto nuclear power reactor was postponed.

In Sweden, the Prime Minister said that in the past, Swedes saved electricity because of costs. However, the government was now asking them to save electricity to lower the possibility of power cuts. Belgium has also warned that its natural gas supply would be at risk if a cold wave occurred this winter.