The manager of the national electricity network (RTE) has just maintained its vigilance on the supply of electricity until the end of winter due to a high number of nuclear reactors shut down.
Between nine and thirteen out of 56 reactors will be shut down during the month of February.
In an attempt to reduce tensions, the government announced in January that it wanted to have partial and time-limited recourse to old coal-fired power stations to avoid power cuts.
The measure "will be strictly limited to the months of January and February 2022" and "does not change the timetable for the closure of coal-fired power plants", indicated the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
According to the decree published this Sunday in the OJ, the ceiling for power plants is raised to 1 kiloton until the end of February to cover the winter consumption peak.
"This corresponds to approximately 1,000 hours of operation during this period", according to the government, adding that the threshold will increase to 0.6 kilotonnes for the rest of 2022 and will return to 0.7 kilotonnes in 2023.
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The 2019 climate energy law had set an annual threshold of 0.7 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per megawatt of installed electrical power, phasing out the gradual cessation of production from coal.
This decision comes at a time when President Emmanuel Macron had promised to close the last coal-fired power stations by 2022, yet easily mobilized to produce electricity when needed, but also very emitting CO2 harmful to the climate.
“The Le Havre and Gardanne power stations have already been closed and that of Saint-Avold will close as planned in the spring of 2022”, underlined in January the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
The Cordemais power plant (Loire-Atlantique) will be able to continue to operate until 2024, despite the presidential promise, due to the risk of tension on the network, the time that the EPR nuclear reactor in Flamanville (Manche) comes into service.
It remains to be seen whether this use of coal will not continue in the coming months.
The Nuclear Safety Authority has not excluded that other reactor shutdowns are necessary due to the discovery of a chronic corrosion problem.
Checks are in progress.
“The consequences will go “beyond this winter”, notes RTE.
