Alison Hammond discusses potential blackouts
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EDF is rolling out a lifeline that could avoid a scenario where France gets plunged into darkness during the festive period. It has confirmed that it will hook up three nuclear reactors to the grid by Christmas. While this may come as a relief to France, it could also provide a vital lifeline for Britain. This is because, as the energy crisis continues to rip through Europe, National Grid had been planning for the possibility that the mainland would restrict its energy imports to the UK.
This poses a major threat to the UK as an energy shortage could pile huge amounts of pressure on the grid, risking blackouts. Under the grid operator’s “unlikely worst-case scenario”, National Grid warned Britons could face planned power outages during peak hours of 3pm to 7pm.
This would be rolled out to different regions at different times to avoid a complete shutdown. While it was expected that this emergency plan would come, the cold snap and nuclear issues in France have raised concerns.
Earlier this week, partners from across the Channel asked to export less nuclear-generated electricity to Britain, while National Grid also put two coal-fired power units on standby, although this request was later cancelled.
But amid the fears that France and other European energy-sharing partners will continue to hold back on imports to the UK amid a freezing winter, EDF has pledged to resume the service of three of the 15 reactors still shut down at a nuclear park before Christmas begins.
Luc Rémont, the CEO of the French state-owned firm, made the announcement on December 14 after a tense month in November, in which the firm’s nuclear output plummeted. As well as being an issue for France, experts have previously told Express.co.uk that this potentially could have been an issue for the UK too as the two countries exchange electricity via interconnectors.
Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, told Express.co.uk: “The issues with nuclear imports and gas power mean that we might have to use some coal power plants this winter – this will come at a high price, but hopefully they’ll only be used for short periods. National Grid will also be using options like payments to reduce demand at peak time – which is a win-win, helping to manage the grid and giving some cash to businesses and households.”
He has also previously warned that France’s nuclear issues could also make blackouts in the UK “more likely”. It came after only 41 of France’s fleet of 56 nuclear reactors remained connected to the grid due to the treatment of problems of corrosion with and inspection visits.
But five days ago, EDF announced the restart of two reactors. Now, the maximum installed capacity of the reactors in service now stands at 41.3 gigawatts (GW). According to Mr Rémont, this has “enabled us – with the support of the French people, who are showing sobriety, to which I pay tribute – to get through this first cold period of the season without any difficulties on the network”.
But in even better news, he announced that “three additional reactors” would be “connected by Christmas”. This marks a vast improvement from August, when there were only 24 nuclear reactors online, with nuclear power usually generating 70 percent of France’s electricity.
According to Thomas Veyrenc, executive director of french grid operator RTE’s strategy, forecasting and evaluation division, the announcement of increased capacity will help to keep the lights on.
He said at the round table meeting that was organised ahead of a bill on accelerating procedures for the construction of new nuclear facilities: “If we are at around 45 GW in January, the situation will be better than what we could have anticipated in September. We certainly have the means to avoid blackouts.”
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But while Mr Veyrenc argued that “we have ruled out the most constrained scenario, the worst case scenario”, he noted that France is not in the clear just yet as “we remain in a situation of great vigilance”.
This came after French analysts warned that the first cold winter days had put the resilience of France’s energy network to the test, warning that there could be power cuts in the coming months, which the RTE confirmed earlier this month.
But this month has still proved to be less challenging than November, despite the cold weather. Mr Veyrenc said: “The end of November was a very risky period, because it was the month when the gap with the historical nuclear availability was really very large. This period is behind us.”
And as well as new reactors coming online, there are other reassuring pieces of information for the French authorities as they scramble to keep the lights on. For instance, the nuclear park is slowly recovering its health, exemplified by the fact that three reactors will be added by the beginning of January to the 41 that are currently operating.
Hydraulic energy, the second-largest source of electricity in France, also began to plummet over the summer but is now finally returning to impressive levels. Mr Veyrenc also claimed that European interconnections are also working very well, meaning large volumes of electricity can be traded on the markets.
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