French nuclear on course for record-low May output, strike planned June 1

French nuclear generation remained on course for a record-low May output despite the return of the Tricastin 2 reactor after a five-week refueling outage, system data showed May 25.

Output peaked May 25 at 28.26 GW with May 1-24 averaging 27.55 GW versus 37.20 GW in May 2021.

Over half the French reactor fleet remains unavailable, adding an extra premium to power prices already at record-highs.

EDF's Penly 2 reactor suffered an unplanned outage May 23, while the return of Cruas 4 was delayed by two weeks to June 21, operator EDF said in transparency notes May 24.

French June baseload power was trading May 25 at Eur210/MWh versus a May 24 assessment of Eur177.50/MWh equivalent for UK June baseload power, EEX exchange and S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.

The 1-GW UK-France ElecLink interconnector started commercial operations May 25 boosting transmission capacity to 4 GW although half of the 2-GW IFA-1 cable remains offline for repairs.

S&P Global Commodity Insights forecast French nuclear to average below 26 GW for the next three months June to August, some 12 GW below the same period last year.

Operator EDF on May 18 again cut its 2022 French nuclear output estimate to a range of 280-300 TWh, the lowest on record for the current fleet with 61.3 GW installed capacity.

EDF also issued a strike notice with unions set to stage another 24-hour strike starting June 1 at 2100 local time (1900 GMT).

FRENCH REACTOR WATCHLIST (summer returns)

Source: EDF