French power prices gain on signs of corrosion at more reactors

Bloomberg

French power futures rose to their highest level this year after Electricite de France SA found further indications of corrosion on its nuclear fleet, potentially worsening Europe’s supply crisis.
French nuclear capacity is already at its lowest in a decade for this time of year as the energy giant is keeping some of its 56 reactors offline for lengthy checks and repairs, on top of planned maintenance and refueling. EDF has said it doesn’t expect a material rebound in output next year either.
French power for 2023 rose 1.5% to 236 euros per megawatt-hour in thin trading on the European Energy Exchange AG. The German equivalent contract advanced as much 3%.
Traders are pricing in that the French nuclear problems are going to last beyond this year and ‘’likely into the year after,” said Emeric de Vigan, chief executive officer at French energy analysis firm COR-e. As France used to be a large exporter, the impact will be felt across the European market, he said.
The state-controlled utility has previously said its nuclear output will fall to the lowest in more than three decades this year.
One of the main questions is how many more nuclear outages safety authority ASN will force EDF to do in 2022 how many of them can be pushed back to 2023 “given the extraordinarily tight supply/demand and the geopolitical context,” JPMorgan Chase & Co said.