Business activity has been hit by Covid-19 epidemic
France’s state-controlled utility EDF said on Thursday it expects a sharp drop in its domestic nuclear power output to a record low in 2020 as a result of the fall in business activity caused by the coronavirus crisis.
EDF said nuclear electricity generation will drop to 300 TWh in 2020, down from an initial expectation of 375 to 390 TWh before the outbreak. It forecast a range from 330 TWh to 360 TWh each year in 2021 and 2022.
In February EDF had already reduced its 2020 target by 20-30 TWh to 375-390 TWh due to maintenance and other outages.
EDF said nuclear electricity generation will drop to 300 TWh in 2020, down from an initial expectation of 375 to 390 TWh before the outbreak. It forecast a range from 330 TWh to 360 TWh each year in 2021 and 2022.
In February EDF had already reduced its 2020 target by 20-30 TWh to 375-390 TWh due to maintenance and other outages.
The company, which operates France’s feet of 57 commercial reactors, withdrew its financial targets for 2020 and 2021 on Tuesday due to the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
It said the economic slowdown has brought about a drop in electricity consumption, which could potentially fall by 20% from usual levels, thereby resulting in reduced nuclear output.
