France is Europe’s top energy exporter

Originally published at Europe in Review on September, 2023

France has overtaken Sweden to become Europe’s top net power exporter, while Germany has moved from exporter to importer during the first half of this year, Bloomberg News reported on August 7, citing a report from EnAppSys Ltd. [Bloomberg]

France’s total net exports amounted to 17.6 terawatt-hours, with most of the power flowing to Great Britain and Italy, according to a report from EnAppSys Ltd. that laid out imports and exports. [Bloomberg]

The increased exports from the nation were due to “an increased availability of the country’s nuclear assets,” EnAppSys director Jean-Paul Harreman said in an emailed statement. Although availability is still 10-15 percent lower than normal, the increase helped to flip the French energy balance to export again. [Bloomberg]

French electricity production has increased by up to 10 Gigawatt hours this year according to analysts at EnAppSys reported by French journalist Olivier Poncelet and the Connexion. Seventy-five percent of its nuclear fleet is now operable compared to 50 percent in April enabling it to surpass number two Sweden. [Bloomberg][FTV] [Connexion]

French nuclear output is a cornerstone for Europe’s electricity market. Its nuclear stations continue to be crucial to the market despite outages and high output from renewable sources such as solar, which has been highly productive as heat waves have ripped through many parts of southern Europe this summer. Germany is the leading energy consumer in Europe, and France the second largest consumer. [Bloomberg]

French energy sovereignty has been a cornerstone of national policy following the second world war, with Gaullists in France being particular proponents of a strong nuclear weapons and energy program.

France was already Europe’s top exporter in 2021 but in 2022 a large portion of their nuclear reactors had to undergo comprehensive maintenance. Since France’s electricity production is 70 percent dependent on nuclear energy, the country had to become an electricity importer temporarily. [The Telegraph] [EnappSys]

The director of Enappsy, Jean Paul Harreman, said that Sweden’s electricity production has been stable from the previous year while Germany turned into an importer after they shut down their last nuclear reactors. [EnappSys] [Bloomberg]

(gdb-rw/gc)