London (Platts)--18Jan2013/707 am EST/1207 GMT

French actual electricity demand soared Friday morning exceeding within-day predictions by 2.5 GW, the equivalent of around two nuclear power reactors, data from grid operator RTE showed.

Freezing weather pushed up national power consumption to 91.7 GW at 11:30 Friday (1030 GMT), some 3.8 GW higher than the same time on Thursday.

A tight supply system meant that France was importing over 2 GW of power and if the high demand outturn continues, the evening peak prediction of 89.8 GW at 19:00 Friday could also be surpassed.

France has a particularly high level of electricity-powered heating demand, and temperatures are set to remain around 10 degrees centigrade below average for several days.

State-controlled EDF operates France's 58 nuclear power reactors, which provide around three quarters of the nation's power.

Nuclear power output rose by 700 MW on the day to 58.4 GW at 11:30 Friday, while output from hydroelectric generation hiked by 1.9 GW to 13.2 GW.

Coal-fired output climbed by almost 1 GW to 5.4 GW, while gas-fired generation was relatively unchanged at 4.9 GW.

Output from fuel-oil fired units rose slightly, to 1.0 GW Friday.

--Robin Sayles, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Maurice Geller, maurice_geller@platts.com

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