EDF Signals Lasting Power Crunch as Reactor Woes Extend to 2023

(Bloomberg) --

Electricite de France SA made deep cuts to its forecast for French nuclear output next year, just days after slashing its estimate for 2022, as a heavy maintenance and repair schedule causes lasting disruption to European power supplies. 

The revision means that the utility’s atomic production, which typically accounts for more than two-thirds of the France’s electricity output, may barely rebound from the three-decade low projected for this year. That will continue to undermine the company’s earnings and suggests the supply crunch that’s caused a surge in European power and carbon-emissions prices will persist well into 2023.

Shares of the company fell 3.9% to 8.27 euros at 9:54 a.m. in Paris, bringing the slump for this year to almost 20%. French power for next year jumped as much as 2.7% to 156 euros a megawatt-hour. The German contract gained as much as 1.3%, reversing earlier losses.

The combined out of EDF’s reactors will be in the range of 300 to 330 terawatt-hours next year, 40 terawatt-hours lower than previously forecast, the Paris-based company said in statement on Friday. 

There will a “heavy” program of 43 reactor halts for maintenance and inspection, including six 10-yearly inspections and four scheduled outages starting this year that will continue into 2023, EDF said. The control and repair program “on the pipes potentially affected by the stress corrosion phenomenon” will also continue, it said.

Earlier this week, EDF said French nuclear output is expected to fall to between 295 and 315 terawatt-hours in 2022, down from an earlier forecast of 300 and 330 terawatt-hours. The last time the company’s atomic production fell below 300 terawatt-hours was more than three decades ago.

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