France will be “very importing electricity this winter” to compensate for a lack of nuclear production and avoid possible power cuts, said Xavier Piechaczyk, chairman of the board of RTE, the manager of the electricity transmission network, on Franceinfo.
“France is very slightly importing throughout the year and we must bet on a winter where we will be very importing because we need this electricity,” said Xavier Piechaczyk.
Germany, UK, Benelux, Spain…. “We will be globally, we France, importer this winter of all the countries around us,” he added.
“Historically, France was a major exporter because it had a very large nuclear fleet, and now it appears that it has temporary difficulties that will be resolved, but it will take a few years.
In the meantime, we import electricity. And “no country is reluctant to give us electricity if we need it,” he said.
France has a physical import capacity of 15 GW, which represents “a useful part” to cope with a peak electricity consumption of 90 GW, and “helps to avoid blackouts,” he explained.
This winter, France is exposed to the risk of power cuts, particularly due to a low level of nuclear electricity production.
Half of its reactor fleet is unavailable due to scheduled but sometimes prolonged maintenance or corrosion problems.
In this context, the government will send a circular to prefects to anticipate and prepare their departments for possible scheduled power cuts, which could affect 60% of the population but no critical sites or priority customers.
There is “a situation at risk but we should not consider these cuts as a fatality”, reassured Mr. Piechaczyk, recalling the need to reduce consumption.
Electricity consumption in France decreased by 6.7% last week compared to the average of the previous years (2014-2019), a decrease “largely concentrated in the industrial sector”, according to the latest balance sheet of RTE.
This decline, “we begin to see it in individuals, it shuddered … of the order of percent,” said Piechaczyk.
“On the other hand we do not yet see a decrease in consumption in the tertiary sector, that is a problem,” he stressed.
