EDF. The energy company announced that four nuclear reactors would see their shutdown extended until the fall. Why should electricity prices continue to soar? We take stock.
[Mis à jour le 26 août 2022 à 15h53] Will electricity prices continue to rise? At present, the price of electricity breaks records. It reached 1,000 euros per megawatt hour, for delivery next year, AFP reported, Friday August 26, 2022. It was only possible to count on less than 100 euros a year ago, and even less than 50 euros the previous years. The concern is mounting and things should not work out. Indeed, Thursday August 25, 2022, EDF announced to extend the shutdown of four nuclear reactors, affected by corrosion problems, for several weeks this fall. The announcement came as the group reassessed the time required to restore these reactors to proper functioning. This news confirms the difficulty encountered by the energy company in recent weeks… EDF specified in a press release the precise timetable for the extension of these shutdowns and revealed the reactors concerned, namely Cattenom 1, until November 1, Cattenom 3, until December 11, Cattenom 4, until November 14, and Penly 1, until January 23, 2023.
France is encountering difficulties with regard to the supply of electricity, in particular due to the geopolitical context… The government has multiplied the alerts in recent weeks, insisting on the importance of adopting energy sobriety to avoid cuts power during the coming winter. However, Marc Benayoun, executive director of EDF in charge of the customers, services and territories division, ensures that there should be no load shedding next winter: “There was no blackout in France since 1978 and even if we are in a very difficult situation, there is still a very good chance that we will spend the winter without load shedding.” Despite this setback, EDF should maintain its objective and thus produce in 2022 between 280 and 300 terawatt hours (TWh). A spokesperson for the group, however, acknowledged that the final expected figure should be at the lower end of this range.
France has 56 nuclear reactors. In France, it is the leading source of electricity production and consumption. Reactors have different power levels. Thus, four have a power of 1,400 MW, 20 have a power of 1,300 MV and 32 have a power of 900 MW.
Thursday August 26, 2022, 32 nuclear reactors were shut down out of the 56 in France. Fortunately, most are due to scheduled maintenance. However, 12 of them must be shut down due to the discovery of corrosion for a few months. These problems were detected at the welds of the bends of the safety injection pipes. Their role is essential since they allow the reactor to be cooled in the event of an accident. Corrosion results in small cracks.