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EDF May Curb Output at Saint-Alban Nuclear Site Because of Heatwave

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Electricite de France may be forced to curb output at its Saint-Alban nuclear power plant next week, the utility said in a Thursday statement, an early signal that rising temperatures could tighten French power supply.

EDF said restrictions could be triggered from June 15 for up to two days, with confirmation due a day ahead, according to a notice on its website. It would be the first such warning this summer.

Hot river water used for cooling can force nuclear plants to reduce output or shut down to meet environmental discharge limits.

France's nuclear fleet is central to European electricity supply, and EDF has already been weighing heat-related operational adjustments. Hot weather has helped push French month-ahead power prices up about 15% this week, outpacing gains in Germany, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

A high-pressure system is spreading across western Europe, Meteo-France said in a Facebook post pointing to a heat wave starting Friday. By Sunday, much of southern France will experience intense heat, with temperatures of about 32-34 degrees Celsius or 90-93 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat is expected to intensify early next week.

This follows a late-May heat wave that set records across multiple European countries. May 2026 ranked as the second-warmest May globally, and Europe experienced its seventh-warmest May and its third-warmest spring, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said Wednesday.

Upstream monitoring data from Switzerland's Federal Office for the Environment show that river temperatures in Geneva have risen by about 8 degrees Celsius since last Friday, underscoring the speed of warming in water systems feeding downstream basins, Bloomberg noted.

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Commodities

US Natural Gas Update: Futures Rise on Warmer Weather Outlook Ahead of EIA Storage Data

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Commodities

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