Has something gone wrong electrically in France ?

[kenneal - lagger]

Perhaps it's something to do with the "fault" causing all the queueing at Dover. The French should be given a taste of their own medicine whenever we get the chance.

[Mark]

What's the point of having a connector if there's no trust on either side ??

[adam2]

The interconnectors between France and the UK have been most useful to both sides.
For the last few months we have been exporting electricity to France, and they must be a bit desperate for it to pay current UK prices.
Prior to that the flow was largely the other way.

I support the building of more interconnectors, provided that WE ALSO BUILD enough generating capacity to export electricity on a regular basis.

P.S. now restored to full capacity of 3 GW.

[kenneal - lagger]

What's the point of having a connector if there's no trust on either side ??

I trust the French to use any leverage that they have to make life difficult for us: that is the French government, fishermen, trade unions, just about anyone really. Is that the sort of trust you are talking about, Mark?

[BritDownUnder]

Those drought affected nuclear power plants on the two Southern rivers in France are only five of the twenty or so plants in France so could only take out 10% of their capacity or so.

One thing I did read was that France was using some nuclear power plants varying their output to meet their own variable electrical load over the course of the day. This is quite unusual for nuclear power plants which would normally be expected to operate at maximum nameplate capacity. Supposedly, this has caused some damage to the reactors involved and may account for why the flow through the interconnector has been quite variable of late.

I would expect nothing less from the French as regards the delays at the Channel Tunnel and Dover. Quite why anyone chooses to go there anymore I don't know. I do support more interconnectors between the UK and other countries but I think there should probably be no more with France as they are just too unreliable to be trusted with such an essential service. It was a good day to see Australia not buying their submarines anymore.

[Mark]

I trust the French to use any leverage that they have to make life difficult for us: that is the French government, fishermen, trade unions, just about anyone really. Is that the sort of trust you are talking about, Mark?

Yup, that's precisely the sort of thing I'm talking about...., and of course, we're whiter than white...?
The EU/France of course might point to the UK not abiding to the terms of the recently signed Brexit deal on the NI/RoI border...
All I'm saying is that if we have an interconnector with our neighbours, it would be helpful to get on with them...
And that applies BOTH ways.

[adam2]

Looks as though the inter connector is AGAIN restricted to 2 GW.

[Mark]

Corrosion Problem Shutters Half of France’s Nuclear Reactors:
https://www.theenergymix.com/2022/06/29 ... ors/?amp=1

Bernard Doroszczuk, President of France’s Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN), told a parliamentary hearing that the “discovery of unexpected stress corrosion” was the cause of the problem. Because of the discovery of the corrosion on one reactor and the subsequent inspection of more than 100 welds on others, he said he was confident the reactors were being made safe, but would have to stay shut offline until they were repaired. That work could take several years to complete.

Rather surprisingly, the stress corrosion seems to be as much a design fault as one of ageing: France’s older reactors which are edging towards retirement seem unaffected, and it is the newer, larger reactors that are in trouble.

[kenneal - lagger]

I wonder if the fault is a result of modern "value engineering" which is often not long term value and often more economics than engineering.

I would class Hinkley being built to withstand sea level rise of only 900mm as value engineering in the same vein!

[adam2]

UK wind power at about 12 GW is exceptional for the time of year.
As a result we are exporting electricity not just to France, but also to Holland, Belgium, and Norway. Only Northern Ireland and the Irish republic are currently obtaining power from the UK mainland.

More wind turbines AND more interconnectors needed.

[kenneal - lagger]

UCL carried out some research which showed that the UK would only be without power from wind on a very small number of days per year because of the spread of the available resource. Yes, to do that would require a degree of overcapacity but when we have the possibility of sales abroad like we have at the moment that overcapacity shouldn't be a problem. Indeed it would be an advantage financially as well as energetically.

[adam2]

Not getting any better in France.
We have been exporting electricity to France almost continually at a rate varying between 1GW and 3GW and for the few days at 3 GW 24/7.
French nuclear output remains at less than half the historical norm.

[PS_RalphW]

Reports that France plans to bring its entire nuclear fleet back on line in time for winter. I wonder how many corners will be cut in the repair schedule on those cracks.

[adam2]

Reports that France plans to bring its entire nuclear fleet back on line in time for winter. I wonder how many corners will be cut in the repair schedule on those cracks.

I very much doubt that the repairs can be completed to a proper standard before winter. The three most likely outcomes would seem to be
1) Hasty or improper repairs with increased risk of accidents.
2) Deciding that the faults are less serious than believed and that generation may be resumed without repairs. Increased risk of accidents.
3) Not achieving the planned return to service, declare a state of panic.

France is a lot nearer to us than is Ukraine, or Japan.

[adam2]

Not looking very good for France.
Nuclear generation fluctuates daily but is around 26 to 27 GW, a slight improvement over recent months, but still less than half of that routinely achieved in previous years.
AND the cross channel link is partly broken broken, yet again. Restricted to approx. 2 GW rather than the full capacity of 3 GW.

France is even belatedly and reluctantly installing wind turbines, a long slow process due to the legal system.
https://www.ft.com/content/4661b634-9a3 ... b6e9aa6a4a