Electricity exports from France climbed to nearly a two-year high in May

After becoming a net importer of electricity last year for the first time in more than 40 years, France is now seeing a change in fortunes. Since the start of this year, the country has exported significantly more electricity to its neighbours than it has imported from them. Last month was particularly strong in terms of net exports, which reached their highest level since August 2021 — almost two years ago.

In May, France was a net exporter of electricity across all its borders except the one with Spain, according to Montel. Preliminary data from the French transmission system operator RTE show that net exports totalled 7 TWh last month.

The increase in exports was helped, among other things, by higher nuclear generation, which rose by more than a fifth year on year in May to 25.1 TWh. Nuclear power plants thus accounted for around two-thirds of total generation, and their output would theoretically have been enough to meet 83% of domestic electricity demand.