France has lost its position as Europe’s biggest exporter of electricity as the nation struggles with extended outages at its nuclear power fleet.

France’s position has dramatically changed from a year ago as it needed to import more power than it exported during the first half of this year, according to energy data analyst Enappsys Ltd. Sweden, in contrast, rose to the top of the table, becoming the region’s biggest net exporter, with most of electricity flowing to Finland and Denmark. 

Usually, France’s 56 nuclear reactors make it a key exporter but prolonged outages mean that only about half of the stations are available. This has led to the highest prices in the region, allowing France to source significant amounts of power from other countries, adding further pressure to Europe’s energy crunch. 

“France’s nuclear issues have resulted in an exceptional net-import position for the French market,” Jean-Paul Harreman, director at Enappsys said. “This has been exacerbated by high gas prices, which has made it less financially attractive for France to export usual amounts of gas into Europe. This in turn has pushed gas assets out of merit across Europe.”

French nuclear power stations are the backbone of the European power system, but the fleet is becoming more unreliable, tightening supplies in neighboring countries used to leaning on the nuclear giant to keep the lights on. 

The heat wave searing Europe has added further pressure on Electricite de France SA’s fleet, with regulators granting a temporary waiver for five nuclear plants to discharge hot water into rivers that may breach environmental standards as the nation struggles with an energy crisis. The French government also said on Wednesday will it defend a decision to force EDF to sell more of its nuclear power output to rivals at a discount because the measure was taken in the wider interest of consumers amid surging energy prices. 

France exported 16.4 terawatt-hours of power in the first half of the year, almost half the 30.9 terawatt-hours it exported during the same period last year, according to EnAppSys data. France’s nuclear reactors were operating at 50% of capacity on Wednesday, same level as Tuesday, according to Bloomberg calculations using data from grid operator RTE.

Both Germany and the UK increased net exports of power during the same period, mostly responding to the demand from France. Power prices in Germany and France have surged to records in recent days. The UK has identified a reduction in exports from France as a key driver of security of supply this winter. 

Meanwhile, Sweden’s total net exports amounted to 16 terawatt-hours in the first half of 2022. Italy remained the biggest net importer during the first six months of the year, sourcing 22 terawatt-hours mostly from Switzerland and France, according to the report.