Sweden has overtaken France as Europe’s largest net power exporter in the first half of 2022, as structural problems reduced French nuclear availability to historic lows, Energy analysts EnAppSys said.

France usually exports more power than it imports, but problems with its nuclear fleet related to stress corrosion in piping systems saw exports from the country halve compared to the previous year.

Sweden’s total net exports amounted to 16TWh, with most of the power flowing to Finland, an estimated 7TWh and Denmark, around 4TWh. Sweden operates six commercial nuclear power units and also uses hydro, biofuels and wind.

France has gone from being a net exporter of 21.5 TWh in the first half of 2021 to a net importer of 2.5 TWh in the first half of 2022 as imports doubled to 18.9 TWh and exports shrank to 16.4 TWh.