France’s nuclear-heavy energy strategy faces big problems this winter

France faces a winter of discontent, energy analysts say, as deep-rooted problems with its nuclear-heavy energy strategy raise serious questions about its preparedness for the colder months.

A long-standing source of national pride, France generates roughly 70% of its electricity from a nuclear fleet of 56 reactors, all operated by state-owned utility EDF.

It makes France home to the world’s largest fleet of reactors after the U.S. and ensured Paris was less exposed than its neighbors to a dramatic cut in Russian gas supplies.

However, more than half of EDF’s nuclear reactors have been shut down for corrosion problems, maintenance and technical issues in recent months, thanks in part to extreme heat waves and repair delays from the Covid pandemic. The outages have resulted in French power output falling to a near 30-year low just as the European Union faces its worst energy crisis in decades.

“I find the France nuclear relationship really interesting because it just bluntly shows you all of the pros and cons of nuclear,” Norbert Ruecker, head of economics and next generation research at Julius Baer, told CNBC via telephone.

“Yes, its low carbon but it’s not economic. You need to nationalize EDF to make it happen. Yes, it offers baseload but wait a second, sometimes a whole plant disappears for weeks and months, so that baseload promise is not really there,” Ruecker said.

French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said last month that EDF was committed to restarting all its nuclear reactors this winter, Reuters reported, with closed reactors reopening each week from October.

French grid operator RTE, meanwhile, reportedly said there is no risk of a total blackout this winter but some power cuts during peak demand periods cannot be ruled out.

“Most of the nuclear power plants should be back online before the winter, so basically by November or December. So, if you trust France’s grid operator, things will be fine,” Ruecker said.

“There should be some conservatism in terms of whether France will be able to bring these reactors back on time, but we shouldn’t be overly pessimistic. The track record shows they have more or less been on time as of late.”

French power prices climbed to a string of all-time highs this summer, peaking at an eyewatering level of around 1,100 euros ($1,073) per megawatt hour in late August. Analysts fear the country may struggle to produce enough nuclear energy to support both its own needs and those of its neighbors in the coming months.

Underlining the structural problems in the country’s nuclear fleet, France not only lost its position as…