EDF loses ground again. After having identified up to half of the nuclear park closed last summer, the energy company had managed to count only one in five reactors out of five in recent weeks. But as during last fall’s social movement, EDF is hampered in its program to revive the nuclear fleet as currently three more reactors are closed compared to last week, 14 against 11. In detail, Gravelines 1, Blayais 4 and Dampierre 4 are immobilized. even if the Loiret infrastructure must be restarted today.
On the other hand, it should be noted that this slowdown in the calendar is more voluntary. In fact, long-term outages have begun and will continue into 2023. Two reactors at the Chinon and Saint-Laurent power plants have begun their ten-year outages as part of 6-9 month maintenance work to extend the useful life of another 40 to 50 years. Five more infrastructures will follow this year, but the group’s CEO, Luc Rémont, wants to reduce their duration in order to increase electricity production. And for good reason, it is the low level of electricity production that is largely responsible for the 18 billion euros in losses that EDF deplores in the year 2022.
Stocks of water and gas continue to fall
As for the nuclear park, the evolution of the gas stocks and the level of the dams are not going in the right direction, but there, too, it is a controlled movement. As for the level of the water tanks, whose fill rate went from 55 to 51% in the space of a week, EDF allowed itself to plunge into it massively because the end of winter was approaching. Above all, the energy company also wants to avoid importing too much electricity from neighboring countries, starting with Germany or Belgium.
On the gas side, the level of stocks is far from the technical maximum maintained for several months starting in September. In fact, gas stocks are 50% full, which should make it possible to end the winter period serenely while temperatures remain relatively mild. In addition, the pipeline operator needs to take advantage of these tanks to refill them in the spring and summer when LNG ships continue to arrive on European shores at a high rate: they should be enough to fully replenish stocks for winter 2023-2024.
Source: BFM TV
