Le 18/19 d'Hedwige Chevrillon · BFM Business

Grande Interview - Christian Buchel, président de l'UFE et Nicolas de Warren, président de l'Uniden – 02/04

·25 min·2 clips

Why every day's delay in filling Europe's gas storage now makes winter prices inevitable and unrecoverable.

1. Le 18/19 d'Hedwige Chevrillon presents a panel on France's energy crisis featuring Christian Buchel, president of the UFE, and Nicolas de Warren, president of Uniden. 2. The two guests are identified as participants in working groups contributing to a government electrification plan being finalized by minister Sébastien Lecornu. 3. The episode's central argument is that France faces two simultaneous time horizons: a hard near-term gas storage crisis and a structural long-term electrification transition that requires 2–3 year lead times. 4. De Warren states France's underground gas storage currently holds only 20–22% capacity after a cold winter, against an EU-mandated 85% target to be reached by November 1. 5. He explains that France has 12 billion cubic meters of underground storage capacity, all leased to operators with legal fill obligations, and that the fill rate cannot be accelerated beyond current pipeline capacity — making every day of delay permanent. 6. He warns that failure to reach 85% by November 1 will force LNG purchases in Q3 and Q4, when global gas-LNG supply-demand imbalances make price increases certain. 7. He advises that immediate energy sobriety measures for both companies and households are essential to ensure storage fills on schedule. 8. Buchel identifies the paradox of French energy policy: France has been an electric power for over 150 years through hydroelectricity, rural electrification, and a major nuclear program, yet electricity covers only 27% of total French energy consumption. 9. He notes this 27% share has not changed in 30 years despite France's structural advantage of cheap, low-carbon electricity. 10. He argues the current fossil energy crisis creates pressure to accelerate electrification but notes that installing heat pumps, industrial steam recompressors, or switching to electric motors takes 1–3 years. 11. Buchel describes two concrete measures in the emerging plan: first, offering industrial firms contracts priced at real-time solar trough rates (20–30 euros per MWh) during 3,000–4,000 hours per year when solar generation suppresses prices; second, aligning electricity and gas tax rates to remove the current penalty on electricity consumption. 12. He identifies France's electricity price advantage: around 55 euros per MWh versus over 100 euros in Italy and about 90 euros in Germany. 13. De Warren argues that long-term electricity contracts and carbon compensation extension to 2040 are the two highest-priority measures for French heavy industry, which faces an international price of around 35 euros per MWh against a domestic cost of about 50 euros, a gap currently bridged by carbon compensation payments. 14. On European dimensions, de Warren notes Ursula von der Leyen has opened discussions on revising ETS carbon quota allocation calculations, particularly on heat-related quotas, which the industry considers essential to prevent a self-inflicted competitiveness wound. 15. A German government minister's suggestion that Germany could benefit from French, Swedish, and European nuclear energy rather than rebuilding its own plants is raised; Buchel, who previously worked in the German energy sector, notes Germany is now questioning its nuclear phase-out decision, with French electricity at 55 euros versus German at 90 euros. 16. He notes Germany cannot simply restart nuclear plants and has already accepted that nuclear complements rather than replaces its renewable path. 17. The host Hedwige Chevrillon notes the plan is not fully finalized and will require further arbitration across its four working groups: industry, buildings, transport, and digital infrastructure. 18. The format is a structured news panel: crisp questions, expert responses, and repeated attempts by Chevrillon to extract specific measures rather than general commitments. 19. Energy policy professionals, industrial managers concerned about electricity price visibility, and French citizens trying to understand the electrification plan would find this episode directly relevant. 20. Listeners seeking a broader economic or geopolitical framing rather than technical policy details may find the level of specificity demanding.

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