Baptiste Morin 6:17 a.m., December 13, 2022
Faced with weaker nuclear and renewable production than in previous years, France has to import electricity on a massive scale from surrounding countries.
But, with the price per MWh which has soared since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, this dependence on neighboring electricity networks is costing France dearly.
Low nuclear production, an anticyclone depriving French wind capacity of wind and falling temperatures.
Here are the perfect ingredients to put the French electricity network in difficulty.
For now, EcoWatt, the application that keeps an eye on the balance between supply and demand, has not turned orange or red.
This is largely thanks to electricity imports.
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But this exceptional situation has a price.
To ensure the electricity consumption of the French on Monday, France imported an average of 10,000 MW per hour and the MWh sold for around 450 euros.
On such a day, we therefore spent between 80 and 120 million euros, the price of an Airbus A320.
“The orders of magnitude are absolutely gigantic,” comments Emeric de Vigan, vice-president in charge of electricity markets at Kpler.
"This shows the cost today of our reactors shut down for hazard or for maintenance," he explains at the microphone of Europe 1.
Imports financed by debt
This gives a clear idea of the current situation, unprecedented for France, which, thanks to its nuclear fleet, was until now largely an exporter, including in winter.
Now, today's imports are financed by government debt.
“All this will increase the public debt so obviously it is a matter of concern”, concludes the professor of economics at the University of Paris-Dauphine Patrice Geoffron.
According to customs, between November 2021 and October 2022, electricity represented a deficit of more than 7 billion euros.
This is almost the cost of one of the future new generation reactors.