On Friday (September 2), French energy transition minister Agnès Panier-Lunachet said: “EDF has committed to restart all reactors this winter. We are closely monitoring developments every week. , and pay extra attention to maintaining the relevant schedule.”
One of the world’s largest electricity producers, EDF currently has 56 nuclear reactors in France, but most are down for maintenance and repairs, with only 24 still in operation.
Continental Europe has been hit by an extreme heatwave this summer that has put France’s aging nuclear reactors to the test and the country’s nuclear power production has fallen to its lowest level in more than 30 years. Data show that EDF’s current nuclear reactor utilization is only 41%.
In addition to heavy scheduled maintenance and refueling, the company has had to carry out unscheduled inspections and repairs on more than a dozen reactors. In recent weeks, EDF has also shut down some of its nuclear reactors for the winter.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Monday called on the country’s companies to save energy or face energy rationing this winter if Russia shuts down gas supplies.
Data show that France’s current natural gas storage has reached 92%, which means that the country has completed the target two months ahead of schedule. Previously, the European Union required member states to fill their natural gas storage to 80% of their total capacity by November 1.
However, this does not mean that Europe can sit back and relax this winter. Gazprom said late Friday that the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline could not be restarted as planned on Saturday because of a new technical problem.
Gazprom suspended supplies to the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline on Wednesday. According to the original plan, the Beixi No. 1 natural gas pipeline will stop supplying gas for three days from August 31, and will resume supply at 8:00 am Beijing time on September 3.
Gazprom said in a statement on Friday that the Nord Stream 1 turbine had an oil leak and that the pipeline could not be restarted until the problem was resolved.