"The crisis we are experiencing shows us the difficulties we have in carrying out major operations to refuel fuels and maintain our nuclear power plants," declared Minister of the Ecological Transition Élisabeth Borne last month. Admittedly, France did not suffer from power cuts during confinement despite the slightest presence of EDF agents in nuclear power plants. But the state-owned company forecasts a historic 20% drop in nuclear production in 2020. It will drop from 379.5 last year to around 300 terawatt hours this year. A decrease far greater than the expected 11% drop in French GDP.
The explanation? EDF currently operates with two thirds of the usual workforce, sanitary measures obliges; and the ten-year outages of nuclear power plants (6 planned in 2020 and 7 in 2021) will take three months longer than expected - the reactors will therefore be shut down longer.
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The RTE network operator is not worried about the electricity supply this summer. Its president François Brottes underlines that "the dams are 95% filled" and that "hydraulic stocks are at the highest for ten years" . RTE is concerned, however, about the peak winter consumption. EDF has therefore taken action. The group has postponed the maintenance of eight nuclear reactors planned for this year to 2021, in order to be able to count on them during the cold spell. The electricity producer will also be able to activate the erasure device, whereby industrialists accept occasional power cuts in order to relieve the network. Encouraging households to better control their electricity consumption, Minister Élisabeth Borne also announced Thursday a "boost" of 150 euros on the purchase of a thermostat. It will be financed with the system of energy saving certificates. This type of device allows savings of up to 10%, or 100 to 200 euros per year less on the electric bill.
The executive in any case excludes delaying the closure of the Fessenheim plant. "We don't change course," insisted Élisabeth Borne. And to add, still on the nuclear issue, that " depending on 70% of a single energy source for electricity is not the most resilient option there is ".
