2021 - Franco Angeli
Article
Digital Version
Télécharger | Copier/coller | Impression
What can be learned from the French partial nuclear shutdown of 2016?
5-19 p.
- The penetration of intermittent renewable energies in the electricity mixes impact the wholesale price. In the absence of electricity storing capacities at reasonable costs, the backup of the intermittent renewable energies is ensured by fossil or nuclear power plants. In 2016 the French Nuclear Safety Authority has ordered the shutdown of a large part of nuclear units for safety reasons. This paper analyses the impact of such a decision both on the evolution of the wholesale price of electricity and on the French commercial balance. Although the resulting mix from the partial shutdown of the nuclear power plants was able to produce the electrical energy consumed, it was unable to keep up with demand. This has resulted in a very sharp increase in the price of electricity on the spot market and in massive electricity imports at peak times.
- Moreover the carbon electricity footprint produced in France is much lower than the one produced by its neighbors. Consequently, the nuclear partial shutdown has a negative climatic impact resulting in a deterioration of the citizen welfare. Thus, the French experience of 2016 teaches us that in the absence of electricity storage facilities, there is no point in trying to reduce the share of nuclear and fossil fuels in the electricity mix. If the policymakers want to do so, they must ensure that massive electricity storage facilities are present and promote electricity demand flexibility on a large scale. This study highlights also the divergence that can exist between the interest of the nuclear producer (higher revenues) and the collective interest (lower welfare and negative impact on the trade balance). [Publisher's text].
Fait partie de
Economics and Policy of Energy and Environment : 1, 2021-
Informations
Code DOI : 10.3280/EFE2021-001001
ISSN: 2280-7667
KEYWORDS
- electricity market, electricity demand flexibility, nuclear shutdown, electricity regulation, renewable energies
-
Dans le même fichier
- What can be learned from the French partial nuclear shutdown of 2016?
- Green growth or degrowth? : evaluating the potential of technology for sustainability
- Assessment of environmental and economic benefits of packaging waste system in Italy
- Oil price, exchange rate and stock price in Nigeria : fresh insights based on quantile ARDL model
- The prioritization of renewable energy technologies in Pakistan : an urgent need
- Utilization of biogas as an untapped renewable energy source in Vietnam
- Performance analysis of standalone photovoltaic power generation in different load conditions in India