Less progress, but progress nonetheless. No more weekly speedups, France is now upgrading its electricity production at a slower but steady pace. Compared to last Monday, only one additional small reactor, Triscastin 4, has been restarted, while three other infrastructures are due to restart this week, namely Civaux 1, Chooz 2 and Gravelines 4. It should be noted that the latter site has seen at least both its reboot delayed by almost two weeks.
In total, EDF only has 12 reactors shut down out of the 56 that make up the French nuclear fleet on Monday. Almost all of them remain immobilized for two joint reasons, routine maintenance, as well as stress corrosion-related problems, with the exception of Cattenom 3 which is only affected by the SCC phenomenon.
Good situation for the dams
Like last week, the real bright spot in the French energy picture comes from hydraulic dams, the level of which continues to rise thanks to a moderate return of rainfall. The occupancy rate increased one point in one week to stand at 72%, with a surplus of more than 7 points with respect to normality. In detail, it is still the reservoirs in the Northern Alps that stand out with a rate of 78%, well above the historical averages (+16.8 points). Despite a fill rate 10 points lower than its neighbors, the dams in the Southern Alps are now reaching their normal level. With a rate of 56%, the water reservoirs of the Pyrenees are very slightly below historical levels (1.5 points) while those of the Massif Central are 4.4 points above, at 71%.
Finally, gas stocks are almost flat but are still experiencing a slight downward trend, with a drop from 83% fill last week to less than 81%. Although deliveries of liquefied natural gas continue on the European coasts, gas reserves could be affected if the cold persists and worsens in the coming weeks.
Source: BFM TV
