RTE, the French electricity network manager, announced that the country had exported a record volume of electricity on December 22. A situation which can be explained by several factors, both meteorological and structural.
Last year, the public authorities announced the significant risk of strategic electricity cuts in order to avoid situations of occasional outages, and encouraged citizens to reduce their consumption. Due to the shutdown of a certain number of nuclear reactors, France was forced to import part of its energy, a first in more than 40 years. Ultimately, the network held up and, apart from a few specific situations, no one was deprived of power.
Record exports before New Year’s Eve
On December 26, RTE announced that France had recorded a record volume of electricity exports to its neighbors. The country did not suddenly find a new and ultra-efficient source of energy, but was able to count on a set of factors offering a favorable situation. Initially, many reactors were able to be inspected, repaired and restarted throughout the year. The nuclear fleet was therefore well available, supported by falling demand and favorable weather.
On December 22 at 4 p.m., RTE recorded the export of 18,680 megawatts to its neighbors, a record, the previous peak dating from February 2019 being 17,415 MW. RTE details the list of beneficiaries and, at the top, we find Germany and the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), which imported 5.4 GW. Behind them are Italy (4.4 GW), Switzerland (3.2 GW), the United Kingdom (3 GW) and Spain (2.6 GW).
Weather, demand, availability of nuclear power plants… A situational record
The first observation that we can draw from this export record is that French production is doing well. The specter of importation and cuts is therefore receding, which is good news. Nuclear reactors suffering from corrosion problems have been able to be inspected, repaired and restarted, but this is not the only reason. RTE explains in particular that the holidays reduced overall energy demand, and that the weather played its role.
The sales that have recently swept the country have allowed wind turbines to operate at full capacity for long periods, to the point of representing 20% of national production. The manager also specifies that competitive production costs, associated with the availability of all means of production, made it possible to generate a surplus that can be resold. We now have to wait until the end of winter to discover the impact of the Flamanville EPR, which is scheduled to be commissioned in mid-2024.
Source : Huffington Post
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