Output was reduced by 4.1 gigawatts, or 7%, of total power demand at midday, data from French utility EDF showed

International News via Reuters:

A heatwave sweeping western Europe reduced France’s nuclear output on Wednesday as high temperatures across the country reduced access to water needed to cool reactors.

Output was reduced by 4.1 gigawatts, or 7%, of total power demand at midday, data from French utility EDF showed.

Temperatures have topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some places in France, which, combined with reduced wind speeds, has boosted wholesale electricity prices.

Wholesale spot power prices in France and Germany on Tuesday reached their highest level since mid-January 2025 as electricity systems grappled with the heat and relied on gas generation.

France is also usually a large net exporter of cheap electricity to neighbouring countries, but as the temperatures have risen exports have dropped, data from grid operator RTE showed.

Exports from France dropped to around 3 GW during the afternoon on Wednesday compared to 10 GW to 12 GW recorded last week at the same time, reducing the cheap supply for neighbours and cutting into profits from transmission.

“Climate change is demonstrating how extreme heat can be as disruptive as the (price spikes from cold weather and low renewables) witnessed during winter,” Kpler analyst Alessandro Armenia said.

“We are surprised now, but we should expect next summer to exhibit similar dynamics, as climate change is undeniable,” he said.

The heat has reduced output at the Saint-Alban 2 and Bugey 3 reactors on the Rhone river in eastern France, and the Nogent 2 reactor on the Seine southeast of Paris.

The Golfech 2 reactor on the Garonne river in southwest France went offline late Monday due to the heat.

French environmental regulations force nuclear operator EDF to reduce output when river temperatures reach a certain threshold to protect local ecosystems.

It was not certain how long the current heatwave, driven by a weather pattern known as an Omega block due to its shape, which allows temperatures to build day after day, would last.

Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, the World Meteorological Organisation has said, which makes prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely.

The European power system is increasingly reliant on renewable power generation, where the evening drop in solar power is replaced by wind and baseload power from nuclear, coal and gas, driving up prices when the sun goes down.

Nearly all countries have seen an increase in thermal generation, which includes gas and coal, in the evenings, including France where gas-fired generation is usually minimal, Kpler data showed.

This week, the pattern is exacerbated by overall higher cooling demand and below-normal wind generation, requiring the use of more gas-fired power, with the most expensive plants setting the wholesale price, LSEG analyst Nathalie Gerl said.

This week is an outlier, however, as the summer has seen regular oversupply on the electricity market, she added.

Reporting by Tristan Veyet and Hugo Lhomedet in Gdansk and Forrest Crellin in Paris; editing by Tomasz Janowski and Jason Neely

The manufacture of private jets cannot be excluded from a list of activities deemed to be environmentally sustainable, the European Union’s second-highest court said on Wednesday

International News via Reuters:

The manufacture of private jets cannot be excluded from a list of activities deemed to be environmentally sustainable, the European Union’s second-highest court said on Wednesday, annulling a decision by the European Commission.

• The contested list, the sustainable finance taxonomy, is intended to provide investors with an overview of green investments.

• The Commission in 2023 excluded aircraft for private or commercial business aviation from the list, based on CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre compared with other modes of transport.

• That decision was contested by French planemaker Dassault Aviation, which called it unlawful.

• The EU’s General Court said that other modes of transport could not necessarily be seen as low-carbon alternatives because private jets have specific characteristics in terms of flexibility, speed and connectivity.

Gudrun Hafsteinsdottir, chair of the Independence Party, Iceland’s largest opposition party, told Reuters on Tuesday that Iceland’s security rested on NATO and its bilateral defence agreement with the United States

International News via Reuters:

Iceland’s main opposition leader said European Union membership would not fix the country’s economic problems or strengthen its security, making the case for a “no” vote ahead of a referendum on whether to reopen accession talks.

Gudrun Hafsteinsdottir, chair of the Independence Party, Iceland’s largest opposition party, told Reuters on Tuesday that Iceland’s security rested on NATO and its bilateral defence agreement with the United States.

She said Iceland should work closely with the EU on sanctions, energy security and foreign policy, but that membership was not the answer.

“The EU is not a substitute for NATO, and EU membership is not a magic shield against geopolitical risk,” Hafsteinsdottir said in an interview.

The August 29 ballot is not a vote on membership itself and any deal would require a second referendum. Reykjavik abandoned previous negotiations in 2013 when ​a eurosceptic government took power.

A recent poll showed that 44.5% of Icelanders plan to vote “yes” to reopening talks, with 39.4% opposed and 14.6% undecided. A majority oppose actual EU membership.

The Arctic nation’s Finance Minister Dadi Mar Kristofersson, who recommends a “yes” in the vote, told Reuters last week that EU membership had become vital for Iceland to shield itself from great power coercion and tackle some of the world’s highest cost of living.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to acquire Greenland, Iceland’s Arctic neighbour, triggered one of the sharpest transatlantic confrontations in years, prompting Kristofersson to say the geopolitical situation had changed to a certain extent.

Asked whether Trump’s threats had changed her thinking on EU membership, Hafsteinsdottir said: “No, I don’t think so.”

On the economy, she said Iceland’s high cost of living reflected structural problems that EU membership could not fix.

Iceland is a small, remote market with little competition in sectors such as food and housing, and the economy has been struggling with years of high inflation and interest rates following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Fisheries, along with tourism and aluminium, is one of the pillars of Iceland’s economy and national ​identity, and the industry fears that joining the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy could mean opening Icelandic waters to foreign fleets.

“Fisheries is in our DNA like a part of our independence. It’s just totally unacceptable that we will share the fisheries with other countries. We will never accept that,” Hafsteinsdottir said.

Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak