FRANCE: RTE RAISES THE VIGILANCE LEVEL FOR ELECTRICAL SUPPLY IN JANUARY
PARIS (Reuters) – The manager of high-voltage lines in France, RTE, announced in a note published Thursday that it had raised its level of vigilance on electricity supply, in particular due to the simultaneous unavailability of many nuclear reactors.
While the reactor maintenance schedule was already “particularly busy” this winter due to the postponement of certain work related to the health crisis of the past two years, EDF announced in mid-December the extension of the shutdown of the two reactors. Civaux (Vienne) and the shutdown of the two Chooz units (Ardennes), which “deprives the electrical system of a controllable power of 4.5 gigawatts (GW) compared to the capacity expected during the month January “, notes RTE.
“The forecast availability of the French nuclear fleet is now assessed by RTE in a range between 43 and 51 GW for most of January: this is the lowest level ever reached for the nuclear fleet at this period of the year”.
However, the latest weather forecast for January suggests that the risk of a severe cold snap, which could affect the electricity supply, is “very unlikely for the start of the month, and unlikely. for the rest of the month (but with a higher degree of uncertainty) “.
“The risk of load shedding is therefore essentially ruled out for the beginning of January at a minimum,” observes RTE.
(Written by Myriam Rivet, edited by Matthieu Protard)