Half of France’s nuclear power plants are offline as dark winter approaches

“Routine maintenance” of the 56 aging nuclear reactors that blanket the landscape of France is worsening the energy crisis as Europe heads straight into a dark winter without warmth.

French electric utility giant Electricite de France SA (EDF) announced in a new update that the outlook for nuclear power generation this winter is being slashed, triggering more chaos in the energy markets.

EDF is reportedly the largest owner of nuclear power plants in the world. Its fleet of reactors normally generates between 280 and 300 terawatt-hours (TWh) of power per year, but this year that range will be reduced to between 275 and 285 TWh.

Worker strikes are contributing to the prolonged closure of many French nuclear plants that require normal maintenance. Various other “technical issues” are also stifling nuclear power generation, we are told. (Related: French glass maker Duralex is halting operations indefinitely due to soaring energy prices.)

“The situation changed drastically this year, when France swung from being one of Europe’s largest exporters of electricity to a net importer because of issues with its reactors,” reports Bloomberg.

“The outages worried officials that France and the broader region might run short of electricity in the winter, when power demand in Europe peaks.”

Energy markets continue to hyperinflate amid escalating energy woes

In the energy markets, French power contracts soared to unprecedented heights in response to the news. Some skyrocketed by as much as 24 percent, reports indicate.

A European warm spell is said to be the reason why Dutch natural gas futures, which represent Europe’s benchmark, spiked, then slid, following EDF’s announcement.f

At the start of this warm spell, some media outlets speculated that perhaps Europe will squeak by this winter with decreased demand for heat. Those hopes were crushed, however, when it was reported that the warm spell is about to end.

All that needs to happen now is for a few cold snaps to emerge, which will start to deplete the European Union’s (EU) natural gas stockpiles. Once those start to drop, energy hyperinflation could start to become a reality.

“Therefore, we see little reason why spot gas prices will not rise again as Europe will need to compete for available LNG cargoes and supplies against Asia, particularly as China reopens in the future,” announced analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in a note to the company’s clients.

In the comments, someone speculated that once this all erupts and really starts affecting the working class and their families, a full-fledged revolution will follow.

“The Davos freaks must be scared as they aren’t meeting in person this year,” this person added. “They know it’s coming.”

“Their security, valets, and private pilots will also have families and loved ones who are starving,” responded another about how the angry hordes will include the very people who are propping up the globalist billionaires who have milked the world dry of its resources.

Another chimed in about how the globalists’ private jet ground crew are sure to know at least one person in their inner circles who died from Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) “vaccines,” which are also a product of the billionaire globalists and their depopulation scheme.

“If I was relying on them to service my jet and I was a WEFer (World Economic Forum), I’d be a bit scared,” this person added.

Someone else lamented that Russian President Vladimir Puttin “missed his chance at wiping Davos off the map and 90% of the origin of the world’s problems last year” when the cabal met in person – probably for the last time.

The latest news about the implosion of the globalist world economy can be found at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com