What if the energy upturn was short-lived?
While France has again been exporting electricity since the beginning of the year, the strike against the pension reform from Thursday 19 January could have an impact on the energy sector.
The fuse was lit by the CGT Mines-Énergie (FNME-CGT) on January 13.
This federation – which notably brings together employees of the electricity, gas and atomic energy sectors – is calling for a renewable strike from 19 January.
She also presented a "battle plan" against the reform of the executive, with several measures envisaged: "restores of electricity" and gas to the most precarious, "targeted cuts" in particular against deputies in favor of the reform…
“Lowers in energy production” are also on the agenda, and this strike could have an impact on the restarting of certain nuclear reactors.
"If there are strikes, there will be no restarting of reactors. If there is no restarting of reactors, there may be a lack of electricity production capacity, explained to AFP the secretary general of the FNME-CGT, Sébastien Menesplier.
The union official, contacted by France 24, believes that the mobilization promises to be “strong” in the energy sector, and in particular in the nuclear sector.
On the subject of reactors – including two of the largest in the nuclear fleet, Civaux 1 and Chooz 2, must restart by the end of January – Sébastien Menesplier details how their restart could be disrupted: “As many employees will be on strike , the work will not be performed and scheduled activity operations will not be done.
The strike will therefore disrupt the work and delay the planned schedules.”
And without or with few employees, restarting nuclear reactors is complicated: this procedure can mobilize “up to 200 people for a single reactor over an average period of two to three weeks”, as Le Figaro explains.
Declines in electricity production
“With the mobilization against the pension reform, there may also be decisions to lower the production of electricity in nuclear power plants – of course respecting the safety and security of the installations”, adds Sébastien Menesplier.
In the meantime, EDF agents have already taken action in the hydraulic sector: on Wednesday, they proceeded to the first cuts in electricity production in several French dams, an action directly linked to the movement against the reform of retreats.
This caused the loss on the network of the equivalent of the production of a nuclear reactor, without causing power cuts.
“At this time there are already production cuts in hydraulics,” Fabrice Coudour, federal secretary of the FNME-CGT, told AFP, indicating that “it puts the network under tension but it is without impact for the user", which was confirmed by the manager of the high voltage lines, RTE.
Hydroelectricity is the second source of electricity production in France (62.5 TWh in 2021), far behind the electricity produced by the nuclear fleet (361 TWh, or 69% of the entire French energy mix).
If production cuts were to be repeated soon in these two sectors – and they put the electricity network under pressure to the point of risking power cuts – RTE could ask operators (such as EDF or Engie) to stop the cuts. of production in order to limit the impact on security of electricity supply.
“The strike comes at a time when it can harm the proper functioning of the electricity network,” confirms Anna Creti, professor of economics at the University of Paris Dauphine.
“Not the fault of the agents but of the liberalization of the energy market”
"Even if the nuclear fleet has returned to high production recently compared to the last eight months, it is a sector which remains exposed to uncertainty concerning the duration of plant closures, even when their maintenance is planned", continues the specialist in energy issues.
With 44 reactors reconnected out of 56, the nuclear fleet posted an availability of 73.7% on January 9, the level most reached since February 11, 2022 (74.8%), according to EDF figures analyzed by AFP.
But the improvement should be short-lived: the availability of the nuclear fleet should “decrease again from February” 2023, as RTE explained at the end of December.
Six reactors will, in fact, have to be shut down this year for corrosion sites.
And the drop in electricity production that this will cause could be combined with the possible effects of actions against the pension reform.
"The reform which requires agents to work two more years, nobody wants it in the energy sector", says Sébastien Menesplier.
“Over the next few days, it will be up to the agents to decide whether they want a long renewable strike.”
But, despite the strike actions to come, the union official wants to be optimistic: “If we manage to respond to the general interest and to ensure that there are no power cuts organized by RTE, everyone will be happy."
And the secretary general of the FNME-CGT concludes: “If we are in the current energy situation, it is not the fault of the 'rich' agents of the sector, but because we have liberalized the energy market. energy in the 2000s.”
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