France steps up reassurances that it can avoid power cuts as cold weather bites

France's Finance Minister and a leading executive at the country's RTE grid system stepped up messages of reassurance on Wednesday that the country can avoid power cuts this winter, even as a spell of freezing cold weather swept across Europe. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said France was on track to get 45 nuclear reactors on line by January, up from 41 at present, which should help it avoid electricity cuts.

France's Finance Minister and a leading executive at the country's RTE grid system stepped up messages of reassurance on Wednesday that the country can avoid power cuts this winter, even as a spell of freezing cold weather swept across Europe.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said France was on track to get 45 nuclear reactors on line by January, up from 41 at present, which should help it avoid electricity cuts. "We are on the right track regarding avoiding electricity cuts," Le Maire told C News TV.

RTE executive Thomas Veyrenc told the French Senate that while the situation remained under "high vigilance", power cuts could be avoided given steps taken to encourage people to cut down on their consumption of energy. France's RTE grid operator cut its power exports to Britain by around half for an hour on Monday morning, and imported more from Belgium and Italy as it faced tight power supplies amid the bout of freezing cold temperatures.