Take a look at this graph:
How could French electricity prices be higher than German ones when they're not dependant on Russian gas to produce electricity?
Because a staggering 26 out of 57 nuclear power plants are down. Some because the drought means the rivers are too low to cool the plants. Others because the ageing plants have developed cracks in the tubes and EDF is behind on it's maintenance.
France is now importing electricity from it's neighbours - as you can see from the graph, it's very lucrative to sell to them.
The French government has decided not to pass the cost to consumers and is borrowing to subsidise energy. But the cost is enormous with no end in sight. If they carry on like this their debt as a percentage of GDP, currently 115%, will exceed Italy's.
There is also the problem that if you remove price signals from consumers, there is no incentive to reduce energy consumption.
That's sad, I didn't even hear this news till today. I wonder why they aren't trying all the various cheaper means like fixing their plants, finding ways to cool them, solar and wind, etc.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
They use river water to cool them - but unfortunately Europe is suffering a drought at the moment and the rivers are drying up.
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