Sébastien Chapotard is Research Officer within the
IREF Europe Think Tank
and Abbeville municipal councilor.
For lack of having invested enough in its nuclear fleet, France today finds itself in high tension on its electricity network. At the height of the holidays, RTE, the operator of the electricity transmission network, increased its level of vigilance to the maximum level and warned of possible “targeted consumer cuts”. The unthinkable has happened, we depend on the weather for our energy supply.
For several years now, all the experts have been explaining that it is not so easily to replace controllable means of production of electricity (nuclear, coal, fuel, gas) by other intermittent ones (wind, solar).
However, the European States, pushed by the left parties - and in particular the Greens - have accumulated decisions in this direction by closing down many nuclear reactors in Germany and Belgium in particular.
In France, Emmanuel Macron took, against the advice of the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the decision to prematurely close the 2 reactors at the Fessenheim plant.
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A greater unavailability of the nuclear fleet was added to this choice. The 1st containment in March 2020 delayed the maintenance of nuclear power plants that EDF generally organizes in summer to preserve the highest winter consumption. In mid-December, four new reactors saw their maintenance extended or must enter it out of caution due to the detection of potential faults. Thus, nuclear power plants, which usually display high availability, are now only partially available. Note, however, that despite these exceptional events, the nuclear load factor in December (69%) remains significantly higher than that of wind (29.4%) and solar (5.4%).
These unavailabilities are added to the explosion in gas prices and push up electricity prices with peaks of more than € 500 per MWh against € 39 on average in 2019. France, a historical exporter of electricity, has become again. importer since November.
Our electricity system, which provided businesses and individuals with competitive energy is withering away.
Today we have achieved the feat of degrading one of France's main assets: our electricity is now insufficient, more expensive and more carbon-intensive.
Sebastien chapotard
Even worse than an increase in costs, it is now the risk of demand much greater than the supply that threatens France. If France has not had a cut so far, it is only thanks to imports from abroad and particularly mild weather. In updating its outlook for the winter, RTE indicated that recourse to exceptional post-market resources: interruption of large industrial consumers, drop in voltage on the distribution networks was probable in the event of cold or light wind and almost certain if these two factors add up. Worse still, if the cold and the absence of wind were to persist for several days,RTE should resort to targeted consumer cuts for a maximum of two consecutive hours by targeting certain streets. Today we have achieved the feat of degrading one of France's main assets: our electricity is now insufficient, more expensive and more carbon-intensive.
Emmanuel Macron has long avoided the subject.
In 2017, it did not mention nuclear in its program and did not make any significant investment in the maintenance of the fleet, or for new reactors.
Cantor of "At the same time" he then promised to invest in wind and solar power, to close Fessenheim and to get France out of coal.
Fessenheim will close, the coal will still work to this day to compensate.
In 2021 and after more than four lost years, the President must resolve to announce investments in nuclear power.
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Accelerating further in the deployment of solar and wind power could not be enough to face the peaks of consumption in winter: solar never produces during the daily peak at 7 p.m., the absence of wind can sometimes reduce wind production to 4%. of installed power as on December 14, and electricity storage is still just a technology of tomorrow. Investments in nuclear power are more necessary than ever. A fleet of reactors cannot be renovated in a few months, new reactors are not built in a few years. Faced with the future increase in electricity consumption and to initiate decarbonization, 3 measures should be taken as of today: launch the modernization of the existing fleet to extend the duration ofoperation under the control of the Nuclear Safety Authority, to build new reactors, in particular EPRs, and to invest in new technologies, in particular SMRs.
It is more than ever necessary to act and to be pragmatic.
The tensions on the electricity network this winter will necessarily recur over the next few years due to lack of investment early enough and in the face of increased electricity consumption and the shutdown of other controllable tools.
