(Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA raised its domestic nuclear production forecast for 2024 but delayed connecting a new atomic plant to the grid by a few months.
Output will be within a range of 340 to 360 terawatt hours this year, compared with an earlier estimate of 315 to 345 TWh, EDF said in a statement late Monday. That increase is due to improved maintenance performance and the absence of major weather events this summer. Since early 2024, 11 reactors have been reconnected to the grid before the scheduled date.
The improvement comes after unplanned halts due to corrosion cracks at key pipes undermined the utility’s output during the previous two years and rocked European electricity markets. Better generation from EDF’s nuclear fleet — the backbone of western Europe’s power system — is helping keep a lid on wholesale prices, partly reversing bill increases during the region’s energy crisis.
France posted record first-half electricity exports as nuclear and renewable production ramped up and demand remained subdued. That’s in stark contrast with 2022, when the nation was a net importer of power for the first time since 1980 because of prolonged reactor outages.
EDF’s atomic production should get another boost next year after the nuclear safety authority gave the green light Monday to start up the Flamanville 3 plant in northwestern France. The 1.6-gigawatt European Pressurized Reactor will join EDF’s 56-strong fleet, which accounted for about two-thirds of the nation’s power production last year.
The first grid connection of the new reactor will take place by the end of autumn rather than this summer because the company had to resolve some recent snags, EDF said Monday. The first nuclear reaction was achieved Tuesday afternoon, the company said subsequently.
EPR Boost
Following scores of fresh tests, the new unit should be connected to the grid when its output reaches 25% of nameplate capacity, Regis Clement, deputy head for nuclear production, said during a call with journalists Monday. Tests will continue for several months, with a progressive ramp-up to full power.
The generated power volume from the first grid connection until the next planned outage is estimated at 14 terawatt hours. The first planned outage should mainly take place in 2026 and last several months.
The commissioning of the Flamanville unit will come as a relief for EDF as it took 17 years to build. The new reactor, which is more powerful than the utility’s older units, faced construction problems ranging from concrete weakness to faulty pipe welds. EDF still has to replace the reactor-vessel cap during its first refueling outage.
The yearslong saga created doubts about the French nuclear industry’s ability to stay on schedule — a crucial issue as it seeks government backing to start constructing six reactors in the country.
EDF’s ongoing construction of two similar reactors in the UK also suffered repeated delays and cost overruns, complicating the British government’s effort to raise funds for another pair of EPRs.
Two similar units have been built in China by EDF and a local partner in the past decade with limited delays. A first-of-a-kind EPR started up in Finland last year, 14 years later than initially planned.
(Updates with new unit’s first nuclear reaction beginning in fifth paragraph.)
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