Due to the cold spell in Europe, there is a shortage of electricity in Great Britain. Provider Octopus has called on its customers to save power on Monday evenings between 5 and 7 p.m. The shortfall led to record wholesale electricity prices, with the spot price for Britain rising to €3,000 per megawatt hour (MWh). Energy experts also expect so-called scarcity prices for France on Monday and Tuesday.
A perfect storm was coming, analyst Gabriele Martinelli wrote on LinkedIn. “We expect a supply shortfall of 2-8 gigawatts in France and an extremely tense situation in Belgium and Britain,” Martinelli predicted over the weekend for Monday and Tuesday. He also does not rule out load shedding, ie targeted shutdowns of major customers.
Bottleneck averted by nuclear energy
France has probably averted the feared bottleneck for the time being by ramping up nuclear power plants and importing a lot of electricity. According to Martinelli, France’s nuclear reactors are supplying more than 40 gigawatts of power for the first time since March. “Without this nuclear energy, we would have seen bizarre price spikes in Europe this week,” says Danish economist and podcaster Andreas Steno Larsen.
France currently has to import large amounts of electricity from neighboring countries for repairs to its nuclear power plants. The country normally exports electricity.
Problems with wind turbines and hydropower
As Martinelli explains, wind turbines in Europe are currently producing less electricity than usual for this time of year. In Britain it is only about two gigawatts – nine gigawatts below the standard value. And hydropower is still suffering from the effects of a century of drought in Europe this summer. “The hydrological situation has not yet normalized after this summer’s severe drought,” said the analyst, referring in particular to France. As a result, gas-fired power stations in Britain and France are running at full capacity during peak periods this week
Source: Krone
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