/Pogled.info/ Nuclear energy, on which the French had high hopes, disappointed them. According to the German publication Welt, citing the Finnish Analytical Center for Energy and Clean Air Research, France has taken first place in the world in purchasing Russian liquefied natural gas. Technical problems forced the shutdown of half of France’s nuclear power plants, leading to a power shortage in the country.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that since mid-June, France stopped receiving pipeline gas from Russia. So Paris had to change gas from Russian pipeline to LNG. The French are lucky: unlike the Germans, they have four terminals that allow them to receive not only pipeline gas, but also liquefied gas. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne recently announced the construction of a fifth terminal. She also emphasized that the task set before the energy companies is to fill the gas reservoirs to 100% before the onset of cold weather.
For a while it seemed that the energy crisis would bypass France. In France, there are 56 nuclear power plants, which allows it not to be afraid of a shortage of electricity. In addition, during the election campaign, Emmanuel Macron repeatedly promised that there would be no power cuts in France. The government raised the price of electricity by 4%, but promised that it would not change until the end of 2022. However, the hopes of the French for a calm and warm winter do not seem to be justified.
An article recently appeared in the Journal de Dimanche in which energy companies such as EDF, Total and Engie are calling for energy savings to start immediately. Moreover, the call applies not only to business and industrial enterprises, but also to French households.
It is curious that usually the authorities call for saving energy, not its producers. It is also noteworthy that shortly before the article appeared in the paper, these companies announced record profits. At “Engie”, for example, according to the results of the first quarter, they amount to 4.6 billion euros, while at “Total” it triples!
Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire acknowledged that the situation in the energy sector is tense, that blackouts are possible and that the government has decided this winter to reopen a recently closed coal-fired power plant in Saint-Avold, near the German border.
As a result, France came in third place among buyers of Russian energy resources. According to the Analytical Center for Energy and Clean Air Research, Russia has received 93 billion euros in energy resources since February 24. Most of Russia’s oil and gas is bought from China and India. A significant portion of Russia’s billions of oil and gas dollars is owed to Paris.
“At the same time that the EU plans to increase sanctions against Russia, France has increased its purchases of Russian LNG and has become its largest buyer in the world,” said the institute’s chief analyst Laurie Milivirta.
In the first half of this year, French nuclear power set an anti-record. Electricity production decreased in January-May by 13% compared to the same period in 2021. According to forecasts, 280-300 terawatts of electricity will be produced by the end of the year, that is, much less than the usually generated almost 400 TW. The reason is that only half of all nuclear power plants are currently operating – 27 out of 56. The remaining 29 are not operating either due to planned maintenance or due to very dangerous material depreciation or other problems. 12 reactors have been shut down, for example, due to pipe damage caused by rust.
In May, one of the reactors had to be shut down for the first time because the temperature of the water in the river from which it was taken for cooling rose significantly above normal. Droughts in June and low water levels in reservoirs forced the power industry to repeatedly shut down nuclear reactors. In addition, experts warn that the water problem will intensify with each passing year.
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