EDF Urged by French Government to Boost Nuclear Availability

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Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA, Europe’s biggest power generator, came under pressure from the French government today to increase the number of nuclear reactors online amid growing concerns over the reliance on imports.

EDF must “raise the rate of availability,” of its reactors, French Environment and Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said during an interview on RMC radio. That rate is currently “low,” he said.

The producer’s nuclear availability rate has dropped to 80 percent, a level that is “not normal” and caused not only by technical issues but EDF’s maintenance schedule, Prime Minister Francois Fillon was quoted as saying in an interview today with Le Monde newspaper.

EDF, GDF Suez SA and other French utilities may have to import more power in the next three months because the balance between supply and demand has become “significantly less favorable,” France’s grid operator Reseau de Transport d’Electricite, said last week. The availability of France’s power generating fleet is expected to be “significantly lower” that last winter, the grid operator said.

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