Strike disrupts French energy sector

PARIS (Reuters) - A general strike severely hit France's energy sector on Thursday, shutting some electricity production capacity and denting output at oil major Total's six refineries, the CGT union said.

The country's eight union federations called a day of action on March 19 to demand government and businesses do more to protect jobs and incomes during the economic recession.

As many as 3 million people took to the streets across France and opinion polls showed around 75 percent of French voters support the strikes.

Energy workers cut off 10,500 megawatts of French electricity production capacity, including 9,000 MW, or 14 percent, of nuclear capacity at 11 different plants, the CGT said.

Utility EDF said 28 percent of its workers had taken part in the general strike, five percentage points below the participation in the last general strike on January 29.

Unions said that strikers' turnout at EDF was equal or above the rate observed at the last strike.

One nuclear reactor has on average a capacity of 1,000 MW.

The capacity cuts do not affect supplies to domestic consumers but restrict the ability of state-owned EDF to sell electricity to France's neighbors.

In the refining sector, workers were striking at Total's six French refineries.

The company said the impact on production operations was limited, while the CGT said the strike had suspended Total's refining production, which has a capacity of around 1 million barrels per day.

Workers at the Gonfreville refinery in northern France started to strike on Wednesday over planned job cuts.

The general strike on January 29, which saw a high turnout of strikers in the energy sector, cut nearly 20 percent of the country's nuclear energy capacity.

"We expect bigger nuclear production capacity cuts later today but we have so far been limited by EDF asking us not to cut more," one union official said, adding 70 percent of workers in EDF's nuclear production departments had downed tools.

EDF operates France's 58 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 63,260 MW.

Activity at France's largest oil hub of Fos-Lavera near Marseille had also stopped on Thursday, blocking seven ships from unloading, port officials said.

(Additional reporting by Mathilde Cru; editing by Anthony Barker)