High Temperatures, Drought Worsen Europe's Energy Problems

In the first week of August, electricity futures for next year in Europe exceeded 550 euros ($550) per megawatt hour.

Cover Image Attribute: The File Photo of RWE's Neurath lignite-fired Power Station, Germany / Source: Rolf Cosar, Wikimedia Commons

This summer's extreme heat and drought in Europe have exacerbated the continent's energy crisis, which has harmed the continent's ability to produce power at a time when European economies are already contending with historically high costs for oil and gas.

Several nuclear power facilities located along the Rhone and Garonne rivers in France, Europe's largest producer of nuclear power, had to lower their output because the temperatures of the rivers were too high to cool the plants adequately. This resulted in an even more significant decrease in the available supply of power, which had already been hampered by the shutdown of 12 of the country's 56 nuclear plants for scheduled maintenance.

According to the most recent data made public by the French energy transmission system operator RTE, nuclear power generation in France was 20.1 TWh in June. This figure is significantly lower than the 27.7 TWh recorded in the same month of 2021.

The hydroelectric sector also took a significant hit. In July, France witnessed a precipitation shortfall over 84 percent below average. A month earlier (in June), the amount of hydroelectricity produced was just four terawatt hours, which is the lowest level that has ever been recorded for the same period. This was caused by river and lake stock reaching their lowest levels in more than 20 years.

Meanwhile, Electricite de France (EDF) reported in August that hydroelectricity generation has dropped by sixty percent since January of this year in the Rhone Valley, the Alps, and the Cote d'Azur region, which accounts for more than seventy percent of the country's hydropower capacity. These three regions together account for more than seventy percent of the country's total hydropower capacity.

Italy is not faring any better in this regard. The northern region of Italy, host to the Po River and its primary hydroelectric plants, is experiencing the worst drought in nearly seven decades. Also, compared to the average level of the Po throughout the preceding years, the current level is about fifty percent lower.

According to the Enel energy company, one of their plants located near Piacenza, southeast of Milan, was shut down indefinitely in June. Additionally, most other hydroelectric plants are not operating at total capacity due to low levels on the Po, the river that feeds them. According to Utilitalia, the federation of water companies in Italy, hydroelectricity production dropped by about forty percent from January to May compared to the same five-month period in the previous year.

Norway, Europe's No.1 electricity exporter with a hydroelectricity output of 137.9 TWh last year, is preparing a framework for limiting electricity exports. Due to "half-empty" water reservoirs, hydroelectric power exports from Norway, which have been marketed as "the battery of Europe" and an effective alternative to the absence of Russian gas, are falling short of this promise.

The level of water filling in Norwegian reservoirs was 67.9 percent at the end of July, a considerable decrease from the equivalent 77.7 percent reached in the same period from 2002 to 2021. Moreover, according to the most recent report from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), the region in the southwestern part of Norway saw the occupancy rate drop to its lowest point of 50.4% earlier this month.

In an attempt to address the worsening situation of high prices affecting local consumers, Norwegian oil and energy minister Terje Aasland said that the government was prepared to take additional action should the situation deteriorate. This action might involve either storage requirements for water reservoirs, export restrictions, or both.

Lowering water levels at the Rhine has made it more difficult to transport goods along the river, which has had a knock-on effect on Germany's coal power output. The local shipping business informed the media that although it was still accessible, boats could only transport around a quarter of their capacity due to the shallow draft.

Uniper, one of the leading energy suppliers in Germany and headquartered in Dusseldorf, has stated that two of its coal plants located in the western part of the country may experience sporadic operation until early September as a result of uncertain coal supplies.

NOTE: In the first week of August, electricity futures for next year in Europe exceeded 550 euros ($550) per megawatt hour, compared to less than 100 euros ($100) a year ago.

IndraStra Global is now available on
Apple News, Google News, Flipboard, Feedburner, and Telegram

COPYRIGHT: This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

REPUBLISH: Republish our articles online or in print for free if you follow these guidelines. https://www.indrastra.com/p/republish-us.html