# Golfech unit 2 returns to France’s national grid after control-system fault

> EDF reconnected Golfech nuclear unit 2 at 11:05 on 22 October, following checks after an automatic shutdown triggered by a control-system equipment malfunction on 14 October.

- Topic: Project and operations update
- Subjects: Nuclear energy, Electricity
- Event date: 2026-10-22
- First published on EPC Feed: 2026-10-25T20:55:46.165Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T20:55:46.165Z
- Countries: France
- Page: https://epcfeed.com/news/edf-golfech-unit2-reconnects-october-2026


## Key facts

- Grid reconnection: 22 October 2026, 11:05
- Automatic shutdown: 14 October 2026, 01:05

EDF reconnected Golfech unit 2 to France’s national electricity grid at 11:05 on 22 October. The reactor had shut down automatically at 01:05 on 14 October after a malfunction was detected in equipment belonging to the control-and-command system. EDF said the automatic shutdown followed the reactor’s safety and protection mechanisms. After checking the equipment and completing the necessary controls, site teams restarted the unit and reconnected it. The company said the event had no impact on installation safety, staff safety or the environment.

The update closes a short operational sequence: an automatic trip, diagnosis, checks, restart and grid reconnection. It does not say that the initial malfunction was a grid outage or a reactor-system failure; EDF identifies control-and-command equipment as the issue. Nor does the release state whether any replacement equipment was installed. Keeping the cause narrow matters because a shutdown can result from different plant systems, and the announcement attributes this one to a specific control-system fault.

Golfech is a two-unit pressurised-water reactor station in Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie. EDF’s 2026 dossier lists each unit at 1,300 MWe and industrial service dates of 1991 for unit 1 and 1994 for unit 2. The site sits on the Garonne’s right bank and uses river water for cooling. EDF reports that Golfech produced 11.4 TWh in 2025, about 3% of France’s nuclear generation and an amount it equates to one-third of Occitanie’s needs, or the annual consumption of 2.3 million French households. That comparison is EDF’s equivalence, not a direct measure of output available to the regional grid at any specific hour. Unit 2 underwent its third ten-yearly review in 2025; the dossier says 91 modifications were completed during that multi-month outage, after which EDF said the unit could continue operating for another decade. For 2026, the dossier planned a roughly three-month maintenance and refuelling outage for unit 1 and preparation of unit 2’s next outage in 2027. This is useful context for interpreting the brief October return notice, but does not quantify the October outage’s generation effect.

The same EDF site reported that unit 1 was operating when unit 2 returned. With the second unit back, the station again had both units available, although the 22 October notice does not provide a precise power ramp-up schedule or generation forecast. A reconnection is not necessarily equivalent to immediate full-power output; the update only confirms connection to the national grid at a stated time.

The notice confirms reconnection after checks, but provides no post-outage output curve, inspection findings or quantified estimate of lost generation. The facts support a precise account of the interruption and return; the longer-term context comes from the station dossier.

## Sources

1. [EDF Golfech - Retour sur le réseau de l’unité de production n°2](https://www.edf.fr/la-centrale-nucleaire-de-golfech/les-actualites-de-la-centrale-nucleaire-de-golfech/edf-golfech-retour-sur-le-reseau-de-l-unite-de-production-ndeg2). Company release, EDF, Published 2026-10-22, Read 2026-10-25.
2. [EDF Golfech 2026 press dossier](https://www.edf.fr/sites/groupe/files/2026-02/Dossier%20de%20Presse%20EDF%20Golfech%20VF.pdf). Reference, EDF, Read 2026-10-25.