French may face power cuts if winter is harsh, warns head of energy regulator

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) - France may face targeted power cuts as an exceptional measure in case the winter is extremely cold and there are delays in the reopening of nuclear reactors, the country’s energy regulatory commission warned on Monday.

“In the most difficult cases, there can be targeted cuts, for a few hours. They will be localized on a relatively small scale, in a municipality or a district, and will be warned beforehand,” Emmanuelle Wargon told FranceInfo.

There will be no cuts in gas supplies for households, she added.

In a normal situation, Wargon said, the power cuts will not happen in the country.

But given the energy shortage due to the Ukraine war and inflation, all measures are being considered to conserve energy.

EDF, the state-owned electricity giant, has assured of starting all nuclear reactors this winter. Of the 56 operating reactors producing nuclear power, 32 reactors are shut down for stress corrosion and maintenance.

The EDF plans to restart 27 nuclear reactors by the end of December, and the remaining 5 by February 2023.

France derives about 70% of its electricity from nuclear energy. The functioning of the nuclear reactors was also affected due to the historic drought situation this summer when almost all regions of the country were affected by low-water levels.

If the EDF is unable to follow its schedule for restarting the reactors, the energy production is likely to be impacted and will force authorities to undertake exceptional measures like power cuts, Wargon said.