Steam rises from cooling towers of the Electricite de France nuclear power station in Cruas, France. Picture: ERIC GAILLARD/REUTERS
The French utility said late on Tuesday that power stations on the Rhone and Garonne rivers will likely produce less electricity in the coming days, but there will be a minimum level of output to keep the grid stable. A heatwave is pushing up river temperatures, restricting the utility’s ability to cool the plants.
In Germany, the Rhine is on the brink of having to close to commercial traffic at a key waypoint because it has become too shallow for barges to pass. That is restricting the flow of coal that is increasingly needed for power generation since Russia reduced flows of gas on the Nord Stream pipeline. Under French rules, EDF must reduce or halt nuclear output when river temperatures reach certain thresholds to ensure the water used to cool the plants will not harm the environment when put back into waterways.
Source: Energy Industry News (energyindustrynews.net)