EDF aims to have 42 reactors available on December 1 and 46 on January 1 out of the 56 French nuclear power plants, the electricity group announced on Tuesday, a few days after announcing delays in the restarting of shutdown units.
These prospects have been revised downwards again, compared to the last count carried out by AFP on 27 October: the timetable then foresaw 45 reactors available on 1 December and 50 reactors on 1 January.
“With 42 units available in December and 46 in January, our margins have been reduced,” acknowledged Régis Clément, deputy director of the Nuclear Generation Division at EDF, at a press briefing on Tuesday, at a time when the government and the electricity transmission system operator RTE are urging the group more than ever to increase its electricity production capacity for the winter.
Questioned by the AFP, RTE judged these prospects “in conformity” with its “prudent scenario” which envisages an available nuclear capacity of 45 GW in January 2023, that is to say the equivalent of 45 reactors.
At EDF, faced with the unavailability of half of its nuclear fleet, a marathon is underway to restart as many reactors as possible and avoid electricity shortages this winter.
As of Tuesday, only 30 of the 56 reactors in the French nuclear fleet were connected to the grid.
But by the end of the year, 15 production units (reactors), shut down for routine maintenance or problems of “stress corrosion” suspected or proven on portions of piping, must be reconnected, announced Mr. Clément at a press briefing devoted to this corrosion phenomenon.
More than 500 people are currently working on these stress corrosion projects, with the addition of about 100 specialized welders from the United States and Canada.
EDF had been forced on Thursday to revise downwards its estimate of nuclear production, due to a longer than expected shutdown of four reactors for this corrosion phenomenon and a labor movement.
It is expected to be between 275 and 285 TWh in 2022, whereas EDF previously targeted a range of 280 to 300 TWh.
This new production estimate, historically low, takes into account a loss of nuclear production of 4 TWh due to the strike that affected the nuclear fleet in September and October, said Clément, without revealing the financial cost.
