France's available nuclear capacity to rise ahead of next winter - report

Electricite de France SA

25/05/2023 09:24

PARIS, May 25 (Reuters) - Available French nuclear
capacity is seen rising ahead of next winter, with six offline
reactors expected to return to operation sooner than scheduled,
daily Les Echos cited an official from France's EDF  EDF.PA  as
saying on Thursday.
    EDF's Deputy Director of Nuclear Production Regis Clement
told the paper the company had last week decided to accelerate
the return of the Nogent 1 and 2, Cattenom 1 and 2, and
Belleville 1 and 2 reactors to the grid. 
    "Except for major contingencies, fleet availability will be
5 to 10 GW above that of 2022 at the beginning of winter,"
Clement said.
    The company sees nuclear availability at 35 GW in October
and 50 GW in early January next year, he said, versus a maximum
of 35-38 GW prior to Dec. 1 last year and 45 GW in early January
2023. 
    State-owned EDF, which runs Europe's largest nuclear fleet,
took several reactors offline last year to carry out checks and
repairs after signs of stress corrosion were discovered at some,
dragging 2022 output to historic lows and adding to upward
pressure on energy prices. 
    Earlier this year, strikes over a widely unpopular increase
in France's retirement age temporarily delayed the maintenance
plans. 
    EDF had no further comment on the Les Echos report.

 (Reporting by Benjamin Mallet; Writing by Tassilo Hummel;
Editing by Jan Harvey)
 ((tassilo.hummel@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter handle:
@tassilo_hummel;))