Folk are being asked to reduce their consumption on Monday 4th April…
"Please do the laundry this weekend rather than Monday, when Demand is expected to spike (sky-high) in France at the beginning of the week as businesses reopen etc etc and fling the switches ON… "
of course, I’d rather have a hot lunch than a sandwich, so hoping the demand does not exceed the supply
EDF’s nuclear plants are running 10-15% below normal capacity due to overhaul/refit schedules all coming together. One reactor at our local station was off-line all last year and now the second is down for refait for the next year.
I’m reliably informed that the different groups of specialists that service all EDF reactors, “Les Nomads Nucléaire” are running from one plant to the next trying to get caught up.
A very very interesting stat quoted in the article that gives some very practical perspective:
‘For example, if all French people turn off a light bulb, it leads to an electricity consumption saving of 600 MW, or about the consumption of a city like Toulouse, "explains the manager.’
Yes, but does this not all seem a bit odd.
Temperatures in France are a bit low - but not lower than a normal January or February, why is the network suddenly stretched?
Already lowest April figures since 1947 and more gel expected…
Yes, but while they might be low for April they would presumably be normal for late Jan/early Feb and I can’t see that the April generating capacity should be lower than Jan/Feb
France is something like 78% nuclear, 19% renewables and the tiny amount remaining is coal/gas. France normally exports up to 30% of its production.
Perhaps that is the real reason - France itself should be OK but I’ll bet there is more demand from outside l’Hexagone, especially given concern over the Russian gas supplies. I also suspect that the price for exported electricity has risen with the market, unlike domestic supply.
Just noticed this comment - OK, fair enough. Careless to have so much generating capacity offline at once.
But, again, presumably the situation was the same back in Jan/Feb - that said the UK had a pretty mild winter this year, was the same true in France.
I still wonder whether the real change is in the export demand.
Obviously their crystal ball failed to alert them to allow for the coldest April weather since 1947… which hit parts of France this last weekend and still with us today… 
You can see exports and imports on the RTE-éCO2mix app. When I looked yesterday at mid-day I was surprised to see imports to France from Spain, UK, Italy and, I think, Belgium. The only export was to Switzerland. It changes throughout the day of course.
Interesting, possibly just blown my theory out of the water 
Knock on effect of 2 years of the WuFlu limiting personnel movement and disrupting all the logistics of getting the right parts in the right place at the right time.
I’d imagine that the key parts of a nuclear reactor are like aircraft parts in that they have mandatory inspection schedules and replace by dates based on hours in service.
I think this may be due to the widespread nature of the cold weather. It’s pretty much country wide. That is quite exceptional I think.
Is this a concern going forward when we’re being encouraged to buy electric cars?
This warning and request to be thoughtful, is because of the unexpectedly cold weather over the weekend… and the possibility (likelihood) of folk switching everything on HIGH when reopening on Monday morning.
Plain and simple.
Re electric cars… and “possible shortages”… that is a whole different ballgame but worth investigating…
Don’t forget pompé à chaleur central heating units using around 3kW/h each.
If La France forces all the rural folks who burn oil/gas/wood to heat their homes to go electric, EDF is going to need a bunch more reactors.
