France’s nuclear power capacity has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years as corrosion has forced the country to shut down some of its reactors.
News agency Reuters according to France may soon suffer from power shortages due to the colder temperatures. Reuters reports that France believes it will avoid blackouts as early as Monday, but next week could still be difficult for its energy companies.
Colder weather has been predicted for Europe, which may put electricity production in many countries to the test. According to Reuters, the situation is particularly difficult in France, as some of the country’s reactors, which rely heavily on nuclear power, are out of use.
Corrosion has forced France to shut down some of its reactors and, according to Reuters, its nuclear power capacity is the lowest in more than 30 years. In a normal situation, France produces about 70 percent of its electricity with its 56 nuclear reactors.
in Paris we got a taste of possible power outages on Thursday evening, when a technical fault knocked part of the city off the electricity grid for a while.
The French electricity grid company RTE tells Reuters that, at least at the moment, there are no power outages planned for the coming week. According to the company, reducing electricity consumption by about 8 percent last week will help in the situation.
French authorities have urged people to save electricity in their homes. So far, it has been successful as the weather has remained mild, but the colder weather threatens to increase consumption significantly.
Until Monday by 2018, France should have 41 nuclear reactors in operation and they should produce electricity in the amount of approximately 39 gigawatts. It should probably be enough for the country’s needs, say the country’s energy authorities.
French state energy company EDF tells Reuters it has increased the production capacity of three of its already repaired reactors and plans to start corrosion repairs on one reactor by mid-January.
The French government has warned citizens that there may be power cuts during the winter. However, it has promised that the outages will not last longer than two hours at a time.
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