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Europe Summer Power Supply 'Tight' But No Short-Term Risks Seen

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Europe's Electricity Coordination Group assured Tuesday of no short-term power supply risks, but signaled that supply-demand balance will be "tight" over the coming week.

Power sector experts from EU countries, Ukraine and Moldova, the Energy Community Secretariat and the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, or ENTSO-E, discussed security of supply in the midst of successive heatwaves and drought.

Some EU countries have been forced to reduce power generation due to low water levels or due to the high temperature of the water itself. Both of these factors have been jeopardizing generation from nuclear power in France, Hungary and Romania in recent days.

The statement said that coordination between EU countries and the single electricity market was helping to ensure that supplies were reaching the regions where more power is needed most.

High solar power output has been a significant help, limiting the price of electricity during the day while the statement said that deployment of storage is "critical" to ensure excess solar generation can help to cover evening consumption peaks.

The group noted the effectiveness of demand-side measures some countries have introduced, notably in Hungary which did so in anticipation of lower nuclear power output with less cooling water available as water levels dip.

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