French reservoir levels drop to 62% in Week 9, remain above 2007 levels
French reservoir levels dropped 3 percentage points week on week to 62% in Week 9 (to 23 February), according to French grid operator RTE on Tuesday. But levels remained two percentage points higher than the same period last year, having dipped below 2008’s levels only in Weeks 4 and 5 so far this year.
Output from hydro plants also fell week on week. A total of 1.16TWh was produced in the week 17–23 February, RTE production data showed, compared with 1.39TWh over the previous seven days. RTE does not differentiate between reservoir and run-of-river production in its hydro output data.
Traders are at this stage confident that reservoir levels will remain healthy throughout spring, thanks to heavy snowfall this winter.
French reservoirs were 73% full on average in 2008, in line with the 2007 figure. Prior to this, levels had not been as high since 1997. Total installed hydro capacity in France sits at 23.845GW, including 13.654GW of reservoir capacity. KT
Other Related Stories
