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Released December 20, 2016 | GALWAY, IRELAND
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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Seven French nuclear reactors shut for safety inspections will be back online by the end of the month, alleviating fears that France would suffer severe power outages over Christmas.
State-owned power company Électricité de France SA (EPA:EDF) (Paris, France) announced that the first three plants to come back online will add 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of power to the grid. It added that of the country's 58 reactors, which provide around 75% of the country's electricity, just four will be out of action until the middle of January.
Three of the reactors with a combined generating capacity of 2.7-GW--Gravelines 2 (910-MW), Dampierre 3 (890-MW) and Tricastin 3 (915-MW)--will be brought back online by December 20th while the other four will come back online before the end of the month.
"For the January and February months we will be in a configuration that is similar to previous years, and there is no reason to think we will not have the power required to meet customers' needs," said Dominique Miniere, head of EDF's French nuclear network, in a conference call with reporters.
EDF is aiming to have nuclear power capacity operating at more than 90% of total capacity.
Last month, the country's grid operator RTE said that France's "electricity supply was in steep decline this winter."
"The low availability of nuclear capacity is due to the closure of several reactors in the depth of winter," it said in its French Winter Adequacy Outlook 2016-2017 report. "The forecasted availability of the generating nuclear fleet is therefore at a record low. With the equivalent of nine nuclear reactors unavailable this winter, on average, this represents the lowest level of availability in the past 10 years. Based on the information supplied by the operator on 7 November 2016, a total of between four and 13 nuclear reactors will be shut down during this winter. These shutdowns include maintenance outages that have been exceptionally extended by the operator, and further shutdowns scheduled by EDF in response to a request made by the regulator (Autorité de Sûreté du Nucléaire) on 18 October."
France's capacity has also been impacted by recent damage to its main interconnector to the U.K. Four of the eight cables that make up the Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) interconnector were damaged in Storm Angus in the English Channel, knocking out half of the potential capacity from the 2,000-MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical link between the British and French transmission systems. For additional information, see December 8, 2016, article--Storm Damages U.K. Power Links With France.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.
State-owned power company Électricité de France SA (EPA:EDF) (Paris, France) announced that the first three plants to come back online will add 2.7 gigawatts (GW) of power to the grid. It added that of the country's 58 reactors, which provide around 75% of the country's electricity, just four will be out of action until the middle of January.
Three of the reactors with a combined generating capacity of 2.7-GW--Gravelines 2 (910-MW), Dampierre 3 (890-MW) and Tricastin 3 (915-MW)--will be brought back online by December 20th while the other four will come back online before the end of the month.
"For the January and February months we will be in a configuration that is similar to previous years, and there is no reason to think we will not have the power required to meet customers' needs," said Dominique Miniere, head of EDF's French nuclear network, in a conference call with reporters.
EDF is aiming to have nuclear power capacity operating at more than 90% of total capacity.
Last month, the country's grid operator RTE said that France's "electricity supply was in steep decline this winter."
"The low availability of nuclear capacity is due to the closure of several reactors in the depth of winter," it said in its French Winter Adequacy Outlook 2016-2017 report. "The forecasted availability of the generating nuclear fleet is therefore at a record low. With the equivalent of nine nuclear reactors unavailable this winter, on average, this represents the lowest level of availability in the past 10 years. Based on the information supplied by the operator on 7 November 2016, a total of between four and 13 nuclear reactors will be shut down during this winter. These shutdowns include maintenance outages that have been exceptionally extended by the operator, and further shutdowns scheduled by EDF in response to a request made by the regulator (Autorité de Sûreté du Nucléaire) on 18 October."
France's capacity has also been impacted by recent damage to its main interconnector to the U.K. Four of the eight cables that make up the Interconnexion France-Angleterre (IFA) interconnector were damaged in Storm Angus in the English Channel, knocking out half of the potential capacity from the 2,000-MW high voltage direct current (HVDC) electrical link between the British and French transmission systems. For additional information, see December 8, 2016, article--Storm Damages U.K. Power Links With France.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Our European headquarters are located in Galway, Ireland. Follow IIR Europe on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn For more information on our European coverage send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.eu or visit us online at Industrial Info Europe.
