The electricity group has revised its production forecasts for 2022 downwards.
EDF’s nuclear electricity production is still likely to be affected in 2024 by construction sites, with an estimate of between 315 and 345 terawatt hours (TWh), according to initial forecasts published by the group. For the time being, this is an estimate, theassociated maintenance schedule (of the reactors) being consolidated“, specifies EDF on Tuesday.
«The 2024 nuclear production estimate is explained by a dense industrial program and the continued implementation of the nuclear reactor control program in the context of the stress corrosion phenomenon.“, discovered last winter, explained a spokesperson to AFP.
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These production levels remain well below those recorded in 2018 (393 TWh) and even in 2019 (379.5 TWh), when the scheduled maintenance program started for the 2019-2024 period, according to a schedule “particularly loaded».
The corrosion problems discovered last winter and this maintenance program, delayed by the Covid crisis, make a large part of the nuclear fleet unavailable and affect EDF’s nuclear production, which should reach a historic low in 2022.
Shutdown reactors
The electricity group has indeed revised its production forecasts for 2022 downwards, to a level between 280 and 300 TWh, and “probably the lower half of the range“, according to a spokesperson.
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Half of its 56 reactors were shut down as of Tuesday for corrosion problems or scheduled maintenance. This situation poses threats to the electricity supply this winter in France, against a backdrop of the European energy crisis and soaring prices fueled by the post-Covid recovery and the start of the war in Ukraine. For 2023, EDF maintains its nuclear production targets at 300-330 TWh, against 340-370 TWh previously.
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