France’s latest heat wave is straining the country’s power system, with Electricite de France SA warning that as many as five nuclear plants could face output curbs in the coming days as soaring temperatures affect rivers used for cooling.
EDF is set to reduce production at two reactors this week, the first of a series of potential curbs as extreme heat spreads across Europe. France’s nuclear fleet is the backbone of the region’s power system, supplying low-carbon electricity that is routinely exported to neighbors including Germany and the UK.
Western Europe is in the grip of its third major heat wave so far this year. A high-pressure heat dome, similar to the one that saw record temperatures in June, is forecast to spread across the continent over the next week. Heat wave conditions are already affecting southeast England, France and Spain and are likely to develop in Switzerland and Italy, according to analysis from MetDesk.
Repeated bouts of really hot temperatures are increasing the risk of further disruption to the power system, according to Alessandro Armenia, an analyst at Kpler. With little time for rivers to cool between hot spells, each successive heat wave raises the risk of nuclear output restrictions, even if temperatures don’t surpass those seen earlier this summer, he said.
“We are accumulating extreme events,” Armenia said. “How many times can the system be resilient?”
The most extreme temperatures are forecast in France, where temperatures reached 41.4C in the south and are forecast to climb to 42C near the Mediterranean on Wednesday., according to government forecaster Meteo-France.
The dome, fueled in part by atmospheric changes from a developing El Niño and an unusually warm North Atlantic, is expected to trap heat over the region through next week, which is forecast to see temperatures rise 3C to 6C above normal in western Europe.
Successive heat waves have baked soils, damaged crops and increased stress on livestock across southern Europe. Dry vegetation and low humidity have also heightened wildfire risk, prompting the European Union to deploy a record number of firefighters to support countries battling blazes.
Fires have broken out in Portugal, Spain, Greece and France. Near the Spanish border, about 800 firefighters are still working to contain a blaze that ignited earlier this week and has burned more than 49 square kilometers.
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