France: RTE raises the level of vigilance for electricity supply in January

2022-01-15 10:06:38 By : Mr. Future Lee

PARIS (Reuters) - The manager of high-voltage lines in France, RTE, announced in a note published on Thursday that it had raised its level of vigilance on the supply of electricity, in particular because of the simultaneous unavailability of many nuclear reactors.While the reactor maintenance schedule was already "particularly busy" this winter due to the postponement of certain work in connection with the health crisis of the past two years, EDF announced in mid-December the extension of the shutdown of the two reactors of Civaux (Vienne) and the shutdown of the two units in Chooz (Ardennes), which "deprives the electrical system of a controllable power of 4.5 gigawatts (GW) compared to the capacity expected during the month of January", notes RTE."The forecast availability of the French nuclear fleet is now assessed by RTE in a range between 43 and 51 GW for most of January: this is the lowest level ever reached for the nuclear fleet at this period of the year".However, the latest weather forecasts for January suggest that the risk of a severe cold spell, which could affect electricity supply, is "very unlikely for the beginning of the month, and unlikely for the rest of the month (but with a higher degree of uncertainty)"."The risk of load shedding is therefore essentially ruled out for the beginning of January at a minimum", observes RTE.(Written by Myriam Rivet, edited by Matthieu Protard)Follow La Tribune Share economic information, receive our newslettersWith La Tribune.fr, make the right decisions