Emmanuelle Wargon, the new head of France’s energy regulator CRE, was confident the country would achieve its goal of fully filling its gas storage facilities by November 1, up from just over 88% today.
“Our goal is 100%. We are on the right track to achieve it,” Wargon told RMC radio.
France is less dependent than some of its neighbors on gas imports from Russia, which account for about 17% of its gas consumption.
However, concerns over Russia’s supply remain, as France faces already limited power generation due to unexpected maintenance on its aging nuclear reactors, raising fears of winter shortages.
The supply of Russian natural gas to Europe has been reduced by 75% compared to the previous year, while the export company Gazprom announced last week an unscheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Wargon also told RMC that she had summoned the Spanish electricity company Iberdrola for talks following the company’s decision to end thousands of retail electricity contracts in France.
Iberdrola is terminating electricity contracts with thousands of its French customers due to unprecedented increases in the price of electricity, she said in a letter seen by a source.
Iberdrola, one of EDF’s biggest competitors in France, said it was advising customers to switch providers.