Temelin plant to cut output by third for 3 days due to repairs

CTK

Nuclear power station Temelin will reduce its output by a third, or about 650 megawatts electrical (MWe), for three days due to repairs of power lines required by state-run grid operator CEPS, starting at 3:30 on December 21, Temelin and CEPS spokesmen said.

Both Temelin units will see their output reduced but will continue generating electricity, Svitak said. The power station should return to full operation shortly before Christmas Eve.

CEPS needs to repair high voltage power lines in the busiest section between Dasny, southern Bohemia, and Slavenice, southern Moravia, where phase conductors have been damaged by a lightning.

CEPS has scheduled the repairs for the weekend before Christmas, when electricity consumption is 30 percent lower. The power lines cannot be repaired when Temelin is running at full capacity.

The repairs cannot be postponed until a regular shutdown takes place at one of the Temelin units after winter because of the condition of the power lines, CEPS company board member Stanislav Votruba said. The safety and reliability of the transmission grid will not be compromised by the repairs, Votruba said.

The output of Temelin's unit 1 will be cut by almost 10 percent and the output of unit 2 will be down by about 50 percent. The power station will start reducing the output at unit 2 at 3:30 on December 21 and 1.5 hours later at unit 1. Once the repairs are finished, both units will see their output returned to the ordinary level, which is about 2,150 MWe these days, Svitak said.

Temelin, launched in December 2020, is the largest power producer in Czechia, covering about a fifth of the country's consumption. Last year, it generated 15.66 terawatt hours of electricity. This year, it has generated 15.3 terawatt hours so far.

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